Purple Rain
by lilyme
Summary: Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same? Pairing: A slayer and a Witch OR – two people much more similar than expected .
1. Impure Thoughts

**Title:**Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author:**lilyme  
**Summary:**Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing:**A slayer and a Witch (OR – two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer:**I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. Thank you all for these characters! Large parts of the dialogue for this chapter taken from a certain Buffy episode we all know...duh! No infringement intended ;)  
**Schedule:**"What's that supposed to mean?" you might ask. It means, I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the time because of…what do you call this again…oh, right, "life"! ;) Or…well, unless no one reviews it, of course. In that case, I'm gonna hold by breath and wait till it happens. I think that's what they call 'blackmailing', huh? Well, sorry, guys, but sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind :P :P :P  
**Author's Note: **If you wanna know how this title happened…well, you could look up the meanings of 'purple' and 'rain'…or think of associations…'purple' is…purple and 'rain' is wet…ah, heck, it's Prince's fault! Quoting one of my betas: _"And Special Thanks to Prince for being so undecided he inspired the title"_. But the looking up meanings and associations still works, I guess ;)  
**Thanks to: **My lovely beta Wil-Lehane-  
**Dedication:**To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers). This story wouldn't have happened, if you hadn't inspired me this much  
**Another Note: **The first couple of chapters are not my best (no matter how hard I worked on them…I still don't necessarily like them). But I promise you, it'll get better.

And apparently I have a thing for headers. So you'll get to see this one - sometimes in a slightly modified way - at the beginning of almost every chapter ;)

* * *

CHAPTER ONE --- IMPURE THOUGHTS

The Scoobie Gang was sitting in chemistry class, awaiting the test that Buffy, despite having promised to do so yesterday, hadn't come over to Willow's house to study for.

Of course there had been reasons: yesterday that new watcher – tall, stuffy and even more British than Giles – had set foot into the Sunnyhell High Library. Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, evil in his own stuffily-unevil way, as Buffy had explained to her friends.

Faith had been even less excited than her blonde friend about being confronted with yet a new watcher; the incident with faux watcher Gwendolyn Post was still troubling her. At the moment she was simply denying his so-called 'authority', doing whatever she wanted to do…even if that coincidently was what Wesley ordered them to do, anyway.

And this was what Buffy was explaining to her friends right now, laying out the events of last night's patrol to them.

"It was intense. It was like I just... let go and became this force. I just didn't care anymore."

Buffy was so eager to explain every detail to them that it was almost hard for Willow to stay angry...no, not angry...maybe disappointed in her best friend for dumping her last night.

This was not the first time that this has happened; Buffy had run out on her at least three times already in the still young year of 1999 – because of Angel, but mainly because of her new slaying buddy.

"Yeah, I know what that's like," Willow tried to not let her emotion show and smiled.

"I don't think you can!" Buffy replied a bit too harsh for Willow's taste, "It's kind of a Slayer thing."

_Yeah… the slayer thing, as if I haven't heard enough slayer-thing-stories in the last months...,_Willow thought and averted her eyes.

The slayers' increasing spending time with each other had been bothering her lately, though she didn't really have an idea why. She felt that it had something to do with Faith and her constant being around them lately. Was it jealousy? Fear of losing her best friends to the brunette? Or was it something else entirely?

Willow had to admit that Faith has been good for Team Scoobie. There had been the humiliation of one Scott Hope, who had dared to show up with a new girlat Homecoming dance within days of breaking up with Buffy.

She would have laughed out loud if she hadn't been so caught up in her Xander-kissage problems at that time. They had practically been sitting ten feet away from the scene but it hadn't really registered on her. She had heard all sorts of rumors about Scott in the following days and had an idea where they may have come from

Plus…there had been that one time Faith had helped her to catch her werewolf boyfriend after he had fought with Jekyll/Hyde Pete. She could still see Faith being pinned to the ground by him and desperately trying to not get bit.

And…there had also been…her newest near-death-experience…

---

_Flashback:_

That night …two weeks ago, three-fourths of the Scoobie Gang, plus Angel and Faith were in the library, facing yet another apocalypse – the first one for Faith. The young slayer was eager to take on and take out every demon crossing her path...even the gigantic seven-headed one with armsand tentacles…that were dripping with slime. Of course, mucus-y demons were, and still are her favorites.

The others did not share Faith's eagerness in the least. They noticed that the creature had grown in the one and a half years it had been dwelling right beneath the library.

As the fight progressed, it became obvious that this battle was going to be harder than expected. The few remaining parties of the Sisterhood of Jhe were easy to manage; mostly lifeless bodies were left of them after ten minutes.

The seven-headeddemon, now, that was the real task. Not only had it grown but it also seemed more agile than before, the slimy arms shooting through the air faster than ever.

Willow and Giles were just about to prepare a spell to slow down the demon and make it easier to kill it, when said demon lashed out and knocked Angel, who was standing just a couple of feet away, unconscious. It slung its armaround his ankle and pulled him towards the gaping hole in the library floor – the gateway to hell, or Hellmouth, as the Scoobies have come to know it.

The two slayers were attacking the demon from the galleryunable to reach the vampire in time. "Angel!" Buffy yelled.

Giles, who was much closer to the vampire, in the book cage, grabbed the battle axe next to him and flung it at the demon, hitting the arm thatwas pulling Angel towards the Hellmouth.He didn't severe it from the demon's body, just cut it barely, but still this was enough to rendered the armuseless.

The watcher sprang forward, grabbed the vampire under the arms and pulled him behind the counter and out of harm's way. His first instinct was to check for a pulse and breath…just then he remembered Angel's undead status. The Englishman sat helplessly for a couple of minutes; he wanted to take off his glasses, but unfortunately he had lost them then they had been battling the Sisterhood of Jhe earlier.

Buffy gave the head she was fighting with one last swing, embedding the tip of the sword in it. The creature screamed earth-shatteringly. Yellowish-green slimedripped from its wound, before all life drained from the head and it slumped down. The blond slayer then ran down the stairs to Giles and Angel, leaving her brunette counterpart to battle another one of the demon's heads.

Meanwhile Willow had finished the set-up for the spell and was now waiting for Giles to return. Seeing that he was still crouching over Angel, checking for any sign of un-life in him, she stepped out of the cage, only with the intention to shout over to him. They didn't have much time; the demon was getting strongerwith every second.

As soon as she set a foot out of the cage, she regretted it. Just as it had happened to Angel mere minutes ago, an armgot hold of Willow's ankle and pulled her forward – the only difference was that she was still conscious and was screaming as loud as she possibly could.

Seconds later, Willow felt two strong arms around her waist, felt them pull her backwards, while the long slimy armof the Hellmouth demon still held a firm grip on her left foot.

"Buffy, God, help me!" the redhead screamed in terror.

"It's me, Red," she heard the low female voice right next to her ear. There is only one person that calls her this. Willow had no idea how the slayer had made it down here in just a fraction of a second. "Don't worry, I'll get you out of there," Faith reassured her, tightening her grip. "Just hang in here, okay?"

Willow couldn't do more than nod. Faith moved further backwards, trying to get away from the nastily agile demon that started to lash out more violently.

Faith's left arm tightened its hold around Willow's waist while she slowly removed the right one. "Don't let go!Hold on to my arm, otherwise I can't guarantee for anything."

And Willow did. She held on for dear life. She dug her nails into Faith's skin, hard enough to hurt her...if she weren't the slayer.

"B, I need something sharp!" Faith yelled over to her fellow slayer whilst the demon pulled even harder on Willow's leg.

Quick-wittedly, Buffy threw her a broad sword, which Faith caught without even looking. The dark-haired slayer swung at the slimy arm of the demon, which was curled around Willow's foot. She missed it by a few inches.

The demon pulled harder, making Faith lose her secure footing. Now it was really time to do things properly. She aimed again, this time slicing right through the arm freeing Willow.

With the redhead still in her grasp, Faith fell backwards, landing on her left shoulder. She hissed softly and pushed Willow through the open book cage door.

Willow looked concerned as she scrambled to her feet and saw the slayer pulling herself up with a pained expression on her face. "Faith, are you okay?"

"No big. Just dislocated my shoulder earlier tonight. Still hurts a bit." Seeing Willow's sorrowful and apologetic face, she added, "Hey, you can kiss it better later, okay? Do that spell now. We need to finish this thing off..."

"Right," Willow nodded, confused about the 'kiss it better' comment but pushing it out of her brain for now.

The slayer grabbed her sword and turned around "B! Giles! Let's move!" she yelled, seeing out of the corner of her eye that Angel had started to wake up…

---

Willow knew that she would be eternally thankful for that. The plans to tie herself to something sturdy next time they had an apocalypse in the librarywere already fix in her brain. Getting literally sucked into hell was _not_ something that she wanted to witness before she had at least graduated from High School. Or…she didn't wanna witness it _ever_, actually.

_Still there's something about Faith that makes me just...it makes me feel like she's stealing my time with Buffy. Nowadays my __**best**__** friend**__ doesn't even want me around anymore on patrol. For my own safety, she says. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's nice that she cares about me... _

_A-And I'm not saying that Faith is the only reason for Buffy's behav__ior. But she just makes me feel uneasy somehow. I'm sure she doesn't mean to. She's actually pretty cool…she fun, though I don't believe half of those stories she loves to tell. But the way she tells them…that enthusiasm…really contagious. Plus her dancing is just…_

Willow's thoughts came to an abrupt halt, as she came to a sudden realization. No, her problem with Faith…the thing that made her uneasy…was not that she was jealous of her…no, it wasn't only the story-telling and the dancing…there was also the voice and not to mention those gorgeous, big brown eyes…

_No, not jealousy__...I just like her...too much..._

_Wow__, nice way of getting there…From feeling uneasy to feeling attracted all of a sudden? But…i-it's true, I guess… _

And that apparent jealousy only seemed to stem from her secretly wanting to spend more time with the brunette herself…which often was denied to her by _Buffy_, who suddenly took the view that 'civilians' shouldn't be involved in the fight against evil. Only exceptions – sudden cases of apocalypse or Faith MIA.

_Oh, man, you're soooo smart, Willow, why didn't you think of this before?_ Willow thought about her shiny new attraction some more. Now she also realized why the act of being rescued by Faith had been playing itself over and over in her head over the last two weeks.

There definitely had been some parts of Faith that she shouldn't have been aware under normal circumstances. The warmth of her body, the…ahems…that had been pressing into her back, the hot breath that had been tickling her ear, the implications of the 'kiss it better' comment…

_Near-death experie__nce, crushing on the big savior? You hear stories like that every day…No, it's not like that! I was…I think I was…attracted to her since I saw her the first time…Why am I justifying this to myself…?_

"I don't even think I'm explaining it well," Buffy, still talking about the Slayer thing, said, bringing Willow out of her thinking.

"You're explaining it a lot, though," Xander replied in a hushed voice.

Willow looked up again as Mrs. Taggart came to her and Xander's desk and handed them their tests. Buffy turned around, opening her test booklet. Willow was relieved that the speech about the slayer thing…and Faith…and Faith and her slayer thing seemed to be over. She needed to get her mind off the dark-haired girl.

"Alright. You have one period to fill out your test booklets. Periodic charts are located on the back. You're on honor system, so remember, no talking," Mrs. Taggart addressed the class. Willow snatched up her pencil, looking over the test. At least it gave her something to concentrate on, hopefully a chance to get the Faith-thoughts out of her head.

_Or not…_Because seconds later, Buffy turned back to Willow and Xander. "You see, the thing was, Faith knew I didn't even wanna go down there..."

Mrs. Taggart cleared her throat, interrupting Buffy, "Ahem. Ms. Summers?"

Buffy faced the front and gestured that she was keeping her mouth shut now.

"You have one hour," the teacher told the class and gave Buffy another look. Then she left the room. Buffy immediately turned back to Willow and Xander.

"Okay, so the best part..."

"Buffy," Willow interrupted Buffy concerned, not only because another mention of Faith might have made her lose her concentration on the test completely, but also because Mrs. Taggart might come in again and catch them talking. "Test? You know, remember? The thing you didn't come over to study for?"

Buffy seemed to get it finally. "Right. Got it." She turned back to her test.

Willow shook her head and looked down at her own test. It took a lot out of her to not put 'Faith Rosenberg' as her name on the worksheet. Even without Buffy starting to talk about Faith again…her brain was blocked.

Her blonde friend simply couldn't resist and turned around again. She smiled at Willow apologetically, "Sorry," and turned towards Xander again, "Okay, so we're down there, in the sewers, and Faith got three of them on her at once..."

Xander seemed equally as nervous as Willow. "Hey! Whoa!" He interrupted Buffy, "can we resume Buffy's 'Ode to Faith' later, like, when I'm not actively multiple-choicing?"

Buffy's voice took on a questioning tone. "How come your eye twitches every time I say Faith's name?"

The tip of Willow's pencil broke from the sudden pressure that she had put on it. She looked up at Buffy's question, panic in her eyes. She thought that her friend was talking to her just then. Luckily Buffy was staring at Xander momentarily and didn't see her reaction.

Xander's eye twitched again at the mention of Faith. "What?" he asked defensively and chuckled. "No, it doesn't."

Seeing Buffy lean in closer to Xander, Willow quickly picked up her pencil sharpener and started to sharpen. She bowed her head quickly, knowing what would come next.

"Faith!"

His eye twitched and he slapped his hand over it. Willow jumped at the same moment,unnoticed by her two best friends.

She was relieved.

And at the same time…she didn't even wanna think about how she would react if Faith suddenly showed up her, within minutes of her realizing her feeling for the brunette. _Drool? Hyperventilate? Stammer? Best option: fall over dead – then there'd be no way the others could ask me about why I just did…whatever I'd do in that case…_

"Cut it out!" Xander exclaimed. "We got a test to take, okay? And I'm highly caffeinated, and I'm trying to concentrate. Some of us actually care about school. You know." Buffy looked to Willow who, done with sharpening her pencil, indeed seemed to be concentrating on her test. Buffy finally realized that she was not going to be allowed to continue her story and settled down to take her test.

Xander started his actively-multiple-choicing routine, while Willow's mind was still trying to get back to its actual task. Xander's words rang in her mind, 'Some of us actually care about school, you know?'

_Right, school, think school, school. Chemistry class. Elements, witchcraft with less newt…newt…huh, never realized that 'newt' sounds like' nude'…kinda. Oh, God, I'm in trouble...Okay, newt, newts, eye of newt...Faith has beautiful eyes...__no, don't think about her, work on your test…Okay, you can think about her later…maybe? _

_Why do I have to do this babble thing in my head?! Stop! _

Willow sighed, exasperated, arousing Xander's attention; and also Buffy's, who, of course, had the advantage of slayer hearing.

However, her friends didn't have time to ask what was wrong, since they now heard a rap on the window pane. It was Faith, trying to get Buffy's attention. The dark-haired slayer lifted the sash and leaned in.

The redhead's heart started to hammer in her chest. As Faith looked around the room nonchalantly, smirking when she didn't see a teacher present, Willow took in the slayer's appearance. Well, at least that part of the appearance that she could make out. All black and skintight, like most times.

Faith smiled, "Hey, girlfriend," meaning Buffy, obviously. It was just a nickname to the brunette, but Willow more and more wished that it would mean something, and especially – that it would mean her. "Bad time?"

The dark slayer leaned over to the next window, wiped the dust from it with her sleeve, exhaled to fog it and used her index fingers to draw a heart with a stake through it. She looked at Buffy, smiled and wiggled her eyebrows. Then she glanced at Xander and Willow shortly and smirked at them.

Buffy understood the meaning of Faith's heart right away and thought for only a moment before deciding to blow off the test. She glid down her lab stool and headed for the window.

Xander just sat there shock-faced.

Willow was trying to ignore the blush that was creeping into her cheeks, as she…"No, sh-she can't!" she said in Faith's direction. _Keep the stutter out, dammit!_

Faith smiled and leaned back in to wait for her fellow slayer.

Willow addressed Buffy now, "Y-you can't, can you?!"

Buffy ignored her and climbed out of the window. Faith lowered the sash after Buffy, giving Willow and Xander one last look, winking. Willow couldn't believe what had just happened.

She looked at Xander, who was just staringahead of him, an odd expression on his face. She was not quite sure what had caused his reaction to Faith but guessed that the reasons were similar to her own.

_At least he's single…well, thanks to me. But what about Oz? I mean…the thing with Xander was only three months ago…I can't do this to him…again. Well, I didn't do anything yet…thoughts are no crime…are they?_

Willow stared down at her test. Nothing on the sheets of paper seemed to make sense any more. Normally she loved chemistry…just like anything else…but today all these formulas with way too many _F_s and _O2_s were simply too confusing today. Right now, Willow couldn't even tell, if, chemically-speaking, one could combine those two or not. Her brain seemed to scream 'yes!!!' And it's not like the little singular _O_s weren't confusing as well.

She moved her No #2 pencil over the worksheet again, deciding to try the "Xan-approach" for a change. Not much chance to do anything else, anyway. _Okay, just tick the option that looks the best, Will. It might even be the right one, you never know. Three-out-of-four chance to flunk. Oh, man…someone's gonna kill me for that…probably Giles._

_Speaking of…, _she scrunched her eyebrows, _didn't I say the best option is to fall over dead if she showed up here? Well, maybe I did and am now stuck in Can't-think-of-anything-but-Faith-Hell…though I'm not even sure if I'd really call this 'Hell'…_

_--- _

to be continued...

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A/N: If you want to know why the story used to be called..."That Night", you'll have to wait and see, I guess ;)

And, again, I would be if someone reviewed :)))


	2. She'll make us remember

**Title:**Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author:**lilyme  
**Summary:**Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing:**A slayer and a Witch (OR – two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer:**I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. Thank you all for these characters! "Chinese Burn" belongs to Curve, not me. No infringement intended.  
**Schedule:**"What's that supposed to mean?" you might ask. It means, I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the time because of…what do you call this again…oh, right, "life"! ;) Or…well, unless no one reviews it, of course. In that case, I'm gonna hold by breath and wait till it happens. I think that's what they call 'blackmailing', huh? Well, sorry, guys, but sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind :P :P :P  
**Author's Note: **If you wanna know how this title happened…well, you could look up the meanings of 'purple' and 'rain'…or think of associations…'purple' is…purple and 'rain' is wet…ah, heck, it's Prince's fault! Quoting one of my betas: _"And Special Thanks to Prince for being so undecided he inspired the title"_. But the looking up meanings and associations still works, I guess ;)  
**Thanks to: **My lovely beta Wil-Lehane. **  
Dedication:**To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers). This story wouldn't have happened, if you hadn't inspired me this much

**Another Thanks **to all those who reviewed. Makes me really happy! I seriously thought no one would read it anyway ;) And yeah, "That Night" was Eliza's very first movie (just like "Impure Thoughts" was Aly's first), but there's a different reason behind the name change. We'll get there.

Okay, let's continue the _Fillow-lovin'_, shall we :P 

* * *

CHAPTER TWO --- SHE'LL MAKE US REMEMBER

The test had been written. It was definitely not her best test result ever, but Willow hoped that it was still good enough to earn her a C…at least. She was already planning to put in some extra work to keep her grade curve on the regular Willow-level.

The little wicca still couldn't believe that Faith could affect her this much. When it came to academic work, there was normally nothing that could distract her. Even when her relationship with Oz started, she had still been able to think clearly.

Her and Faith _weren't_even in a relationship and Willow had a feeling that it was little likely to happen. But deep, deep inside her, there was something that wanted to give this a try and see where it would lead.

Little did she know that the opportunity to test out things would present itself much earlier than expected.

She and Xander had decided to go to the Bronze. Just a little relaxing time on Friday night. Willow hadn't even thought about the possibility that a certain dark-haired girl might be there as well.

Faith and Buffy were on the dance floor, gyrating to the techno sound of Curve's "Chinese Burn". Three boys came over and danced around them. The slayers ignored the guys and just felt the beat of the song. They didn't notice the Slayerettes either.

Surprisingly, Willow and Xander were able to find an empty table near the dance floor, always keeping their eyes on the slayers, mostly on Faith.

Angel walked under the stairs to the edge of the dance floor and stopped to watch. A look of concern was on his face; he obviously hadn't come here for no reason.

Buffy was lost in the moment, so it took her a moment to notice Angel standing at the side. When he saw her notice him, he made a move to go. Buffy squeezed out from the crowd to go to him.

Faith didn't miss a beat and started to paw at the boys, who were eager to keep her entertained.

♫ _She burns friends like a piece of wood_

_And she's jealous of me because she never could_

_Hold herself up without a spine_

_And she'll look me up when she's doing fine_

Half a dozen guys and a couple of girls were getting closer to Faith, so many that Willow and Xander almost couldn't make the relatively short girl out amongst them anymore.

Faith drew one of the guys closer, feeling him up.

♫ _She'll break a promise as a matter of course_

_Because she thinks it's fun to have no remorse_

_She gets what she wants and walks away_

_And she doesn't give a fuck what you might say_

After a few moments, she let him go and moved on to the girl beside him. She pulled her closer, almost close enough to kiss. But she'd never let it happen, she was just playing.

♫ _She'll burn us bad_

_She'll flaunt her fame_

_She'll make us remember, remember her name_

_She'll make us remember, remember her name_

Willow couldn't get her eyes off Faith, was completely drawn to her. And the fact that Faith seemed to enjoy this dancing with the other girl, was a matter of particular interest to her.

♫ _If she sits still like she knows she could_

_She could win this game and be the queen for good_

_Save herself up for the cream of the crop_

_Then she'll look us up when she's ready to stop_

Done with the girl, Faith moved to the next person. Out of the corner of her eye, she could make out the silhouettes of two very familiar persons sitting at a table about twenty feet away and smirked. The guy she was dancing up to thought that this show of emotions was meant for him, and the brunette didn't even try to convince him otherwise.

Openly watching Faith feeling up the guy and getting felt up in return, Willow suddenly remembered where she was, and most importantly – with whom. Guiltily she glanced in Xander's direction, checking if he had caught her staring at Faith. But her best friend was too busy staring himself.

Willow looked around; they were not the only ones. The attention of almost the entire club seemed to be focused onto one spot. For a second the redhead wondered if there is a love spell, no...lust spell involved. But she figured that it was simply the hotness that is Faith.

♫ _Burn her name_

_Crush her fame_

_Burn her name_

_Crush her fame_

_Burn her name_

_We're all to blame_

As the song came to an end, Faith left her admirers standing on the dance floor and walked over to Willow and Xander's table. Still all eyes were on her; the slayer could have almost anyone in this club if she wanted to and she knew it.

She retrieved a stool from another table and sat down opposite of the Scoobies'. "Hey, guys," she greeted casually.

Willow only nodded, momentarily at a loss of words; Xander couldn't to seem stop his eye from twitching. Several seconds passed without a verbal reply from them – they simply stared at the slayer.

"What?" Faith scrunched her eyebrows, but smirked at the same time. "Do I have something on my face?"

"N-no, no, we were just...," Willow started, not exactly knowing what they were just...

"I see…," the slayer replied slowly, turning towards Xander with a questioning look. He was not looking into her eyes; his eyes were dropped downwards, staring right at her...

"Hey! I thought you grew out of ogling-me-phase," Faith snapped her fingers to get his attention. The outfit the slayer was wearing, gave Willow – without even looking at Xander –

an idea what the young man was looking at right now. And she couldn't help risking a glance herself.

Xander stammered something incoherent and fled into the crowd.

Being pulled out of her ogling with Xander's sudden departure, Willow uttered, "What's up with him?" For one thing, she wanted to know…for another…

Faith smiled, "Not sure," knowing exactly what might me on the young man's mind at the moment.

Seconds ticked away without one word between the two of them.

Willow looked around, suddenly a little uncomfortable around the slayer that she admittedly had a crush on. She did anything she could to avoid staring at her openly. Faith didn't seem to notice this. She had snatched the little red and black paper umbrella from the table and had started to play with it.

"Where is Buffy?" Willow finally asked.

"Don't know. But my...what would Buffy say," Faith seemed to be seriously trying to remember, "my 'spidey sense' is tingling. So I guess there's either a vampire here or...her...vampire. Angel," she concluded with a slight frown.

Willow had to smile a little at Faith's befuddled expression. _If she even knows, how she looks when she does that…? _Snapping out of it, she remembered their current conversation. "Might be important," she replied, unsure if she wanted the slayer to stay or to leave.

Faith shrugged, "I'm okay here for now. Got good company," she grinned at Willow who smiled in return.

Willow picked up the umbrella Faith had abandoned mere seconds ago. They both seemed to have a habit of always having to play with something. "You know…I never said 'Thank you'," Willow brought forth after a bit.

Apparently completely out of the blue, since Faith didn't seem to comprehend what the redhead was addressing here. She looked at Willow confused.

"The library," the redhead explained, "You saving my life."

"Oh…nah. Don't sweat it, Red," she shrugged it off

Willow leaned forward, more insistent, "No, really..."

The slayer was fidgeting around, a little uncomfortable. She wasn't used to this. "Red, what are you doing? You trying to make me blush?" she asked, trying to _not_ do just _that_.

Willow mind swirled around that one word – 'Red'. Willow didn't even remember when Faith started calling her that. It sounded almost affectionate to her and unlikeBuffy, who hated it when Faith called her 'B', she had no problems with her nickname. In fact, she was beginning to love it more and more…not surprisingly, considering her recent realization.

She was so caught up in that last thought that she didn't notice the next words slipping out of her mouth before they did. "I think you'd look cute..."

Her eyes went wide when she noticed the surprised look on her counterpart's face. Her mouth opened and closed, without further sounds coming out.

Faith grinned, guessing what Willow was trying to say, "Yes, you _did_ say that out loud."

It was Willow's turn to blush instead as she tried to back-paddle. "No, I...I didn't mean...I mean, I…"

"Oh, no no no," Faith stopped her, "you're not gonna take _that_ back now, are you? It'd break my heart, you know." In a dramatic gesture, Faith put her hand over her heart and pouted.

Willow just nodded, baffled by her own forwardness.

Faith noticed the sudden quietness and got the feeling that her last comment might just have been a little over the top. The redhead was probably not the type to swing that way, anyway. Thinking of a way to help Willow out of her predicament, she started, "Hey, want something to drink? On me? Coke? Beer? Water?"

The redhead was grateful for the change of topic. "Yeah, coke, thanks..." Thinking back, she added, "Wait, 'beer'? A-Aren't you underage?" Willow didn't really know. She had never bothered to find out, but she figured that Faith might me about her age.

As she slowly slid down her stool, with the typical sensual movements that were so natural to her, the Dark Slayer answered, "Well,do I look underage?" and winked. She headed over to the barbefore Willow had a chance to reply.

The little wicca couldn't help but notice the faint wiggle of the other girl's butt and wondered if this one was doing it on purpose…only to abandon this thought seconds later. Why would Faith want to do that right now? Certainly not to impress her, right?

Even if she found the slayer 'cute', as she had just involuntarily admitted, Faith didn't see anything like that in her vice versa – Willow was very certain about that.

But that didn't keep the redhead from admiring the slayer from afar. She watched her chatting with the barkeep, noticed that this was probably not the first time that those two had met.

When Faith returned a few minutes later, she noted the way the wicca was looking at her and smirked inwardly; maybe should rethink her position of Willow _not_ swinging that way.

"There you go," she said, as put she the coke in front of Willow and sat down with her beer.

"Thanks," Willow replied and peeked into Faith's cup. "So how did you do it? The beer?"

"You really wanna know?" Willow nodded in response. "Met the barkeep a couple of months ago. Told him I might let him cop a feel if he's nice enough to me. And ever since he's given me everything I wanted," she gave the redhead a dimpled grin.

A hint of sudden jealousy was in Willow's voice"And did you...? Or will you let him..., you know…I mean…," she blushed, unable to say it.

Faith smirked. "No to the first question. Second question…hmm, I don't know, I guess, probably...maybe...not...". She seemed more than indecisive. "Hell, I never know what or who I'll do next, you know?"

"Huh," Willow replied absentmindedly, trying not to think about the topic of Faith actually doing... "Impulsive."

Faith shrugged in agreement and sipped her beer. "But, let's not talk about me and my future sexcapades," she focused her attention on Willow, "How's you and Oz?" _Interested in Will's relationship now? When did that happen…_

_Oh…._Without knowing it, Faith had found Willow's sore point. And that was not only because of Will's crush. Oz hadn't been the most attentive boyfriend lately; he had been more involved in his band activities than he was in his relationship with her. Probably also a result of her little indiscretion with Xander.

"Good, I guess," she replied, little convincing. "…A-Actually, I don't even know if there is a 'me and Oz'." _Oh, we're generous with the confessions today, aren't we…!_

"Why? What happened?" Faith asked instantly.

"Well, nothing…," the redhead replied, not knowing if she should or wanted to tell Faith about this.

"'Nothing'," Faith stated confused and it was not really a question. "And that bothers yo---." As she watched Willow squirming around in her seat, looking uncomfortable, the proverbial light bulb went off in her brain. "Ah…Not the best sex life, huh?"

Willow looked flustered. Faith leaned forth, whispered. "Come on, Will, you're not gonna tell me you two never...not even once...?"

Willow shook her head and played with her half-empty cup. And it was true, except for Christmas, where she made an attempt to show Oz that he was the only one for her, there hadn't been any further attempts concerning this subject ever since. Neither from her side nor from Oz's side.

"But you want to?" Faith prodded more.

"I don't know…," Willow whispered, looking at the surprisingly insightful slayer for the first time in a long while. Some part of her wanted to; some other part wanted to, but not necessarily with Oz. "Yeah, I think so. He says that he wants to wait…"

"Wait for what?" Faith chimed in, not really understanding the werewolf's behavior, "For the next person to come along and snatch his cute girl away?" she scoffed.

Willow looked at her with big eyes. Her mind had to be playing tricks on her, right?

"Hey, you said it to me, I'm just givin' it back," Faith added, confirming that Willow had heard correctly. "Now we're even."

The redhead gave her a shy smile and Faith returned it, less shy, and not even really thinking about it.

Since Faith seemed to have some expertise in that area, Willow dared to ask, "Have you ever been in a relationship?"

Faith shrugged. "Relationships is not my specialty, really. I mostly lay 'em and walk away...When I hop into the sack with someone three times or more, then I think that's a relationship for me."

She thought back at those 'relationships'. There hadn't that many. There was Ronny, her first. Her first 'relationship', at least. The other first wasn't really something she liked to think about. Things with Ronny hadn't worked, since their personalities were simply too different. Tom…not really much to say about him; they both knew that there wasn't much more going on between them than sex. Steve, dumped after two weeks, after she had found out that he had been repeatedly 'borrowing' money from her. Manda. She had been very fond of her, maybe because the girl didn't just see her as a sex-object. And maybe that was the problem, since after about one month, Manda decided that she liked the boys more after all and dumped Faith on the spot. Kenny…fruitless from the beginning; nowadays she didn't even know, what she had seen in him in the first place.

Since then, there hadn't really been much going on, 'relationship'-wise, and Faith wasn't too unhappy about that. "So, yeah, there weren't that many. And I'm not the touchy-feely type, anyway."

Willow had watched Faith thinking and felt that there was probably more than the slayer had just let her in on. "I don't know….You should try it again for a change. Maybe you'll even like it." She couldn't keep the hopeful look from her face, when she made that suggestion.

Faith mulled the redhead's words over. Try again? With the right person, maybe, though those are rarely easy to find, and she didn't yet another disappointment. That's why, for now, she was pretty happy with her policy of casual sack-hops. That way, she didn't hurt anyone…in most cases…and kept others from hurting her.

When she looked up, she caught Willow's look and frowned, almost unnoticeably though. There was a meaning behind it, right? Faith was not even sure that she wanted to know. Maybe the redhead was just lost in other – not-her-involving – thoughts.

Suddenly she noticed Buffy standing near the exit, waving excitedly, obviously trying to get her attention. Angel was nowhere in sight and Faith was glad about that. She didn't like him that much, though he seemed to be an okay kind of…vampire. Maybe it was just that – the slayer-dating-vampire that was freaking her out.

"Looks like I gotta go. Maybe we'll continue this some time," Faith said, getting up.

"Oh…okay," Willow looked almost disappointed.

Faith rounded the table and handed Willow her beer. "Give this to Xan, when he gets back. I think he needs to relax a little," she smirked.

"I'll do that," the redhead followed suit with her own Willow-like grin. She had no idea why Xander behaved like this, but maybe a beer wasn't the worst idea ever.

As she walked past her, Faith made a move to nudge the smiling and obviously 'cute' girl's cheek with the knuckle of her finger, but deliberately missed it with a few millimeters. "Bye."

"Bye," Willow replied, looking after her and feeling the lingering touch that hadn't even been there.

---

to be continued...

* * *


	3. First Contact

**Title:**Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author:**lilyme  
**Summary:**Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing:**A slayer and a Witch (OR – two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer:**I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. Thank you all for these characters! Parts of the dialogue taken from "Bad Girls". No infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the time because of…what do you call this again…oh, right, "life"! ;)  
**Author's Note: **If you wanna know how this title happened…well, you could look up the meanings of 'purple' and 'rain'…or think of associations…'purple' is…purple and 'rain' is wet…ah, heck, it's Prince's fault! Quoting one of my betas: _"And Special Thanks to Prince for being so undecided he inspired the title"_. But the looking up meanings and associations still works, I guess ;)  
**Thanks to: **My lovely betas Wil-Lehane- and...let's call her K for now (she goes by many names) ;)  
**Dedication:**To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers). This story wouldn't have happened, if you hadn't inspired me this much

* * *

CHAPTER THREE -- FIRST CONTACT

The evening ended rather abruptly. After the slayer(s) were gone, the party was pretty much over. The center of attraction was gone. People were still dancing here and there, but without the same enthusiasm.

Xander reappeared shortly after Faith's departure and Willow didn't bother to call him on his weird behavior…but still gave him the beer, which earned her a frown from him and him a shrug from her.

Willow figured that he had his reasons for acting this way around Faith, but she wasn't going to push. She knew from her own experience that Faith's company might make you feel uneasy at times, although her own uneasiness lessened more and more.

She missed the slayer almost as soon as she was gone. She had been able to tell her things that not even her best friends knew about, maybe because she didn't know her that well, or even because she could be sure that Faith wouldn't spread the word ofher secret feelings.

Willow knew that she wanted to be around her more often, and that was not only because of her beginning attraction.

Xander didn't drink the beer that Faith had left for him; maybe Willow shouldn't have told him, whose beer it was. The redhead played with the cup for a while, lost in her thoughts. Her best friend wasn't very talkative and Willow decided a Friday night of studying or surfing the net would be fun...at least more fun than the non-existent conversation with Xander.

Surprisingly, Angel was still lurking around in the darker corners of the Bronze and offered to take them both home. Buffy had probably asked him to do that. The teens were thankful. Sunnydale is not a town you should walk around alone after dark, unless you're a vampire slayer or a demon that coincidently fights for the good guys.

* * *

The next day, some time in the afternoon, Willow and Buffy were sitting in Buffy's bedroom, cross-legged on the bed. And right now, Buffy was sniffing some small, indistinct bag right.

"Mmm."

"You like it?" Willow asked her.

"It smells good," the blonde raised her eyebrows, "What is it?"

Willow smiled proudly and answered, "Just a little something we witches like to call a protection spell."

"Good deal, protection," Buffy sniffed again, "I'm surprised, though, 'cause usually spell stuff's more..."

"Stinky!" Willow finished the slayer's thought. "Yeah. That's why I added lavender. Give me time, and I may be the first wicca to do all my conjuring in pine fresh scent," she put her own bag down, still smiling. "So what's the plan?"

Buffy gave her an inquiring look.

Willow explained, "For tonight's slayage. We're going, aren't we?" It had been a while, since Buffy had allowed her to come along, but the blonde had given her her word two days ago and Will couldn't help feeling excited. As crazy as this might sound, she liked going on patrol. Plus of late she had one more thing to get excited about.

Buffy, however, wasn't that excited about Willow's proposal. In fact, she would rather have avoided this Willow-coming-along subject altogether. Patrol was getting more and more dangerous. And she didn't even want to think about last night. Burglary, getting arrested, escapingfrom the police car. She hoped that a thing like this wouldn't happen ever again. "Yeah," she replied reluctantly.

Willow felt her friend's hesitation, but tried not to let it show. "Great!"

Buffy realized that she couldn't hide her true feelings. It wouldn't be fair to Willow. "But... there's a 'but'. And that's 'but you shouldn't come... tonight.' Is that cool?"

The wicca was slightly disappointed and didn't really make attempts to cover it. "Well, sure. Makes sense. You know... You'll be facing big, hairy danger."

Buffy tried to justify her decision, "Uh, b-biggest and very hairy." Actually it was more a long-haired danger with big brown eyes, but Buffy hadn't told Willow about this until now. And she wasn't planning on doing so. Ever.

Willow was prodding for more. "You'll be risking your life."

The blonde also thought about that, but it was not number one on her list of possible dangers. "Right. And why risk yours?"

_Because I want to hang out with…no…_Willow glanced down for a second, thinking about a convincing reason. Not finding one, she looked back up. "Because I'm your friend?" she smiled meekly, knowing that it wouldn't change Buffy's mind.

"I know, Will," Buffy replied more vehemently, "and that's exactly why I don't want you going. It's, it's too dangerous."

The redhead tried to protest. "But I-I've done this sort of thing before! Like, a million times, and I can totally handle myself. Besides," she held up her own bag again and smiled, "minty fresh protection. So?" her expression was hopeful.

There was a knock on the door. It opened seconds later and Faith entered, dressed in black leather pants, a white long-sleeved shirt and a black vest.

"Ready? Time to motor," she addressed Buffy and turned to Willow. "Hey, Willow," she nodded and smirked, not really surprised to see her here.

"Hi," Willow waved in her direction, suddenly a little breathless. Then she faced Buffy again, the question about her being allowed to tag along still not having been answered. "Uh..."

Faith paced back toward the door, hardly one to stand still for more than two seconds.

Buffy stood up, an apologetic look on her face, "I really should... But we'll hang out later, right?" she said to Willow, not wanting to continue the on-coming argument with her.

To the friends' surprise, they got interrupted by Faith, who took Willow's side. "Jeez, B, let her come! It's not like that would be the first time for her, right? I'm sure she can take care of herself, if she needs to..."

Buffy looked at her shocked, but tried to cover it, not wanting Willow to notice.

"Plus, she might even be a help for us," Faith shrugged, sounding awfully convinced. Well, 'awful' being the operative term, for Buffy, at least.

Willow looked optimistic. She wouldn't have expected this from the dark-haired girl; she was happy that Faith thought of her as a possible help on patrol and hoped that this would be enough convince her friend.

Buffy looked at her best friend again, sighing. It would look strange if she would still refuse to let her come along. "Alright, you can come with us. But...," she folded her arms over her chest, "...if you get hurt...," she addressed the redhead, before sending Faith a warning look, "someone in this room is in serious trouble."

Faith nodded in understanding, knowing that Buffy was referring to what happened on last night's patrol.

Willow put her small, lavender-y bag, her scapula, round her neck as she and Buffy grabbed their coats from the nearby chair. Faith was waiting at the door, holding it open for them.

* * *

As Faith closed the door behind her, Willow turned around with a questioning look on her face. Buffy had gone downstairs to the kitchen already to tell her mom that they were leaving.

"How did you know that I wanted to go?" Willow asked the girl she considered a good friend by now. Maybe more.

"What, you never heard of slayer hearing?" Faith replied, putting one arm around Willow's shoulder. "I heard the last part of your conversation."

Again Willow was awfully aware of certain slayer-y parts that 'friends' shouldn't be aware of, but tried to not be flustered by it and follow the actual exchange with the brunette. "O-Oh," she murmured. _Great rhetorical abilities, huh? Wait…she overheard our conversation. Okay. But…me and a help? Well, cool. Or not? Seriously? _

"And it's true, you know?"

"Huh?"

"That you might be a help for us," Faith explained as they headed downstairs, "You never know what'll happen. And six eyes might see more than four," she gave Willow's shoulder a little squeeze before she released the girl at the foot of the stairs.

Willow was surprised that the slayer – again – knew exactly what she had been thinking. She wondered if the girl possessed any mind-reading abilities, but dismissed this thought with a short laugh.

"What?"

"Ah, nothing, I just wondered if you can read minds," the redhead grinned, repeating her thought.

But before the brunette could answer this, Buffy and Joyce came into the foyer. "You guys ready?" the blonde asked her companions. "Sun's almost down."

"Yup," Faith replied. You could see that she was getting itchy already; she was walking up and down the foyer, like a tiger, waiting for the gate to be opened.

Willow zipped her dark-brown jacket and slipped some stakes that Buffy handed her in its pockets. She looked over at Faith, who was still only wearing her black vest over the white shirt. "Are you not going to wear something over this?"

"Nah, I don't get cold that easily," the slayer replied, looking down at herself. "Besides," she swung her arms back and forth a couple of times, "I can move much faster this way."

"Take good care of Willow," Joyce reprimanded. "I don't want to see a scratch on her when she visits us the next time."

Willow was happy that Joyce cared about her. She didn't really know this from her own parents. Not surprisingly. Willow was pretty parenting_herself _since the age of 13. Her parents were always busy taking part in meetings and conferences all around the world.

Willow had felt very neglected in the past years, but had come to terms with it eventually. One reason was because she has found a great substitute mom in Joyce.

"Promise," Faith replied and patted Willow shoulder before she opened the door. "Bye, Mrs. Summers," she waited for the others to follow her.

"Bye," Buffy and Willow said in unison and exited the house.

"Bye, have a good time." Joyce faltered, wondering if she had really just said that. But her kids had left already, so she was not even sure if they had heard her or not.

* * *

Just like yesterday, the slayers inspected the alley near the packing warehouse on Devereau Street.

Faith was carrying the hunting bow that had caught her eye at the weapon shopthat night before. The trio was walking around a corner, as the slayer got an arrow ready.

There had been silence between them for the most part; Buffy was still not sure if it had been the right thing to take Willow with them on patrol. Until now there had been no vampire in sight, but out of experience she knew that that could change within two seconds and that several vampires could be attacking them at once. Faith and Willow had been more talkative, chatting about everything and nothing.

"You're quiet tonight," Faith acknowledged Buffy's taciturnity

"I just wanna get this done," came the terse reply. Willow, who was walking between them, was looking back and forth between them, wondering when and why Buffy's attitude to Faith had become this frosty.

"Yeah. I'm dying to test out the longbow," the dark-haired girl smiled and bent her bow"I think it might be my new thing."

Willow saw the chance to ask Faith about her new toy. She had been wondering about it since she had walked out of Buffy's door and had seen how Faith had picked it up again, after apparently having leaned it against the doorjamb when she had gotten there.

"Where d'you get it, Faith?"

The slayer grinned, please that Willow wanted to know. But when Buffy threw her a warning look, Faith made up a cover story.

"Well, you know, that new watcher guy...Wesley Wimpham-Something..." this remark seemed to break the ice between the slayers a bit; Buffy was actually smirking, "...anyway, he brought some new weapons with him, including this baby," she showed off said 'baby'. "Guess he wanted to make a good first impression."

Buffy was satisfied with Faith's answer, which her nod of approval clearly demonstrated.

"So, how do you feel about getting some ribs? You know, after we're done?" Faith asked her companions. Leave it to the brunette to already plan the victory dinner before the battle was even remotely won.

But before one of the other girls could reply to her suggestion, a vampire jumped out in front of them. Obviously he was a member of the Eleminati, the 'fifteenth century duelist cult' that Wimpy McWearisome had told Buffy and Giles about in his long-windedness.

Surprised, but still with the necessary presence of mind, Buffy shoved Willow behind her, while Faith was having trouble with her longbow.

The vampire roared and came at Buffy. She sidestepped him, grabbed him and threw him into the back of a truck. Seconds later, he rushed at her again and made the vain attempt of a front kick. Buffy countered with a roundhouse kick to his gut, knocking him to the pavement. She jumped him and the struggle began.

Another vampire joined in as Faith still struggled with her bow, but they were in too confined quarters for her to use it against him, anyway.

"Screw it!" she exclaimed and dropped the bow, getting ready to stake her enemy the old-fashioned way. But, to her surprise and probably to the vampire's as well, the little redhead came running up behind the vamp and shoved her stake right into his back. He was dust in an instant.

"Damn, Red, you sure you don't have any slayer genes in ya?" Faith appraised the witch.

Buffy got up holding her stake, having just dusted her vampire as well. "Well, she learned it from the best," the older girl grinned mischievously, happy that she was leading 1:0 in the slayers' daily 'Who-kills-more-vampires-in-one-night contest'.

"You're pretty full of yourself, aren't you, B?" Faith teased and used her nickname for Buffy on purpose, knowing very well how she could annoy her blonde counterpart.

Willow was amused by the interaction of the other two and decided that three can play this game. "Come on, slayers, let's move, I wanna slay some more vamps. Maybe I can beat you both."

"It's your lucky day, "Faith remarked, looking ahead of her, sensing their undead foes. "I think we've got more comin'!"

Another Eliminatus, who landed in front of them, confirmed Faith's utterance. He thrust at the younger slayer with his short sword. She reacted instantly, catching his arm and shoving him into a crate. Buffy stepped right in and staked him. He crumbled to ash.

The threesome continued along the alley at a brisk pace. At the end of the next building, an arm reached out and grabbed Willow by the hand. The hand was warm, the person was definitely not a vampire. Out of her eye, she could make out the silhouette of a man. His clothes indicated the he wasn't a member of the Eliminati.

Instantly Buffy grabbed the man and threw him against a dumpster. Faith jumped right in, clearly with the intention to stake him.

Panic crept up in Willow, when she noticed what Faith was about to do. "FAITH, NO!!" She lunged forth and shoved Faith's arm, trying to deflect the stake from its intended goal.

The next thing that could be heard was a loud thud.

to be continued...

* * *

A/N: Now _that _cliffhanger was to be expected, huh...? Wanna take a guess at what'll happen?

Thanks for your reviews, guys!! Keep them coming :)


	4. Red's Faith

**Title:**Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author:**lilyme  
**Summary:**Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing:**A slayer and a Witch (OR – two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer:**I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. Thank you all for these characters! Parts of the dialogue taken from "Bad Girls". No infringement intended!  
**Schedule:**"What's that supposed to mean?" you might ask. It means, I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the time because of…what do you call this again…oh, right, "life"! ;)  
**Thanks to: **My betas Wil-Lehane- and K (she goes by many names)  
**Dedication:**To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers).

* * *

CHAPTER FOUR -- RED'S FAITH

Willow flinched as the stake made contact with the metallic surface of the dumpster; the hard thump echoed through the mild winter air.

The bluntend of the stake was sticking out of the waste receptacle, just inches away from the man's shoulder. The shock had rendered him unable to move. He simply stared ahead of him.

Faith wasn't much better for it. She was breathing heavily, the hand that had held the stake just seconds before was trembling violently.

If asked Faith probably couldn't say what had made her missher anticipated goal. It hadn't been the fact that Willow had been pushing her arm – the witch was physically not nearly strong enough to hinder her. Maybe it had been the edge of panic in the redhead's voice. Only now, it dawned on her what she almost would have done. She noticed the (hu)man's ragged and shallow breathing, his terrified look.

Willow walked up behind her and put her hand on the slayer's upper arm, pulling on it to get Faith to face her.

She succeeded after a few seconds and Faith turned around. "I didn't know," she said in a distant and almost childlike-sounding voice. Her mind was still trying to comprehend.

Willow took her hand, searched the slayer's eyes and whispered a reassuring "It's okay," both to the slayer and to herself. Faith merely nodded and Willow squeezed the hand a little, noticing the surprising softness of it.

But that was not important right now. The girl in front of her was shaking, on the verge of a shock herself.

Buffy had pushed past them and was now crouching in front of the man. "Are you okay?" she asked him. "Are you hurt?"

The reply came haggardlyand faint"N-No, I-I'm fine," he stuttered and tried to get up. Buffy pulled him to his feet.

Faith faced him, her trembling hadn't stopped completely yet, but thankfully Willow seemed to have a soothing effect on her. "I'm so sorry. I didn't even realize..."

"I-It's okay," the man tried to smile. "And I should apologize. I-I should have found another way to get in contact with you," he addressed the two slayers, "but..."

"Wait, what?" Buffy asked, curious and confused about the reason he had been looking for them.

Willow finally recognized him. "I know you. You are Allan Finch, the deputy mayor."

"Y-Yes, that's right," he relied, still stuttering a little, "And I-I have very important information for the slayers."

"What is it?" Buffy wanted to know.

"I'd rather not discuss it here," he indicated that they were outdoors, where someone could walk in on them any second. "Could we go somewhere...?"

"No problem," Buffy turned to Willow and Faith. "I'll take him to the library. I think, Giles might be there, researching stuff..." She looked briefly at her unusually-yet-understandably quiet fellow slayer, "Faith…can you take Will home?"

The question was actually more directed at the redhead, whom she now fixed with a meaningful look that held the underlying plea 'Can you take care of her?' Willow nodded silently.

The brunette slayer absentmindedly muttered, "Yeah, no problem, Buffy". The use of the blonde slayers full name showed that Faith was still not her old self again.

"We'll raid the warehouse tomorrow, okay? I think we're good for now," Buffy said over her shoulder, already on her way. Finch was not leaving her side.

"Okay," Faith replied.

"Bye, Buffy. Take care, Mr. Finch," Willow got out before her friend and the deputy mayor were out of sight.

"Bye, guys," Buffy said and rounded the corner, quickly followed by Finch.

Willow and Faith were still standing in the alley near the warehouse. Both realized at the same time that the witch was still holding the slayers hand, but neither of them did anything about it.

* * *

The twosome slowly started to walk in the direction that Buffy and Finch had just gone.

They didn't talk for several minutes; Faith was lost in her thoughts.

After a while, Willow broke the silence with a squeeze on the slayer's hand. "You okay?"

Redundant question, of course, since she knew that Faith wasn't really…but at least a way to start a conversation.

Faith nodded and slowed her walk. "Um-hm. It's just…a weird night," she said, letting go off the redhead's hand to hug herself. She was looking down at the ground, retreating into herself.

Suddenly she felt uncomfortable around Willow. After all, _she_ was supposed to be the big protector, not the little redhead. "God knows what would have happened if you hadn't been there. I might have actually killed...," she broke off.

The wicca didn't like what she saw in front of her. The near-accident had shocked her herself and she knew that it must be even worse for the slayer. But she didn't want Faith to put up barriers around her, to torture herself with her thoughts. So she tried to think of a way to get Faith's mind off this thing.

Looking at Faith's distressed expression, she started, "Faith, I know what you must be feeling…well, not exactly _know_ know, since I've…," she stopped, before a babble could occur, since she felt that this was one of the last things that the brunette needed right now, "but punishing yourself is not gonna help any...,"

Faith was looking up again, her eyes shimmer with tears that threatened to spill. She hadn't noticed Willow's almost-babble, honestly.

"It didn't happen. That's the important thing. Remember that, okay?" the redhead insisted and tried to take Faith's hand again. Surprisingly, she succeeded. "Don't tortureyourself with the 'what ifs'. I'm not saying that a thing like this will never happen again," a tear ran down Faith's face at this words and Willow fought to control her own emotions, "but I doubt it. I trust your instinct with this. Not just your slayer instincts - your human instincts."

This earned her a little smile from the slayer, who was proud and almost happy that someone acknowledged her not only as a slayer, but also as a person. Willow seemed to understand her in a way that she didn't think was possible. "Thanks."

Willow tentatively lifted her hand to the slayer's face and wiped the tear from the soft skin of the slayer's cheek.

Faith let this affectionate behavior happen; right now, she probably would have let Willow do just about anything with her.

The caress ended far too quickly for Faith's taste, though she couldn't really say why. The redhead gave her an encouraging smile and slayer nodded, indicating that she was feeling a little better.

Willow got a hold of the brunette's arm, motioning her to move. "Come on, we have somewhere to be."

Faith actually laughed at this and shoved her Willow-free hand into her pants pocket. "Right. B's not gonna be happy if I don't bring you home safe and sound."

"Actually, I had something else in mind," she said as they crossed the street.

"And what's that?" Faith asked curious.

"Aren't you hungry?" Willow grinned and lead her to a nearby restaurant.

* * *

The term 'restaurant' was actually too much of a compliment for the place the two entered now. It was dimly lit and only few occupants sat around here and there. The floorwas well wornthe wallpaper already peeling off the wall here and there. A jukebox was standing near the entrance, but no music was coming out of it.

Faith and Willow found a table in far corner, where they had more privacy. The tablecloth was not the cleanest; a few stains seemed to have survived the many washings Salt and peppershakers accompanied an unlit, yellowish-white candle.

An elderly looking waitress came up to their table. Like this place, she had seen better days already. "What can I do for you?" she asked in a monotone and slightly annoyed voice.

Willow looked up from her menu"I'll have some French fries and my friend here would like a big plate of ribs, right?"

Faith looked a little befuddled. "How...Oh, yeah," she stammered in the waitress's direction, "Ribs with chili sauce for me."

"And two cokes, please," Willow added.

The waitress scribbled the orders down on her notepad, "You got it," and headed towards the kitchen.

Faith braced her elbow on the table; her chin was cradled in her palm. She fixed Willow with a pensive stare as this one shrugged off her jacket. "Um, you know what I'm gonna ask you…," Faith started and wondered, how close an attention the redhead had paid to her earlier.

"You mentioned the ribs before, okay? You have slayer hearing, I've got my memory," Willow attempted to joke and noticed that she had accomplished her task when Faith gave her a grin…which was not as dimpled as Willow knew it could be, but a grin nonetheless. "And I know this place is not the prettiest, but they have the best ribs in town."

"You really know what a slayer needs," Faith remarked.

Score, one way to cheer up a slayer.

Inspecting the place, Faith had an idea. "But some ambience would be nice, yeah?" With that, she slid off the bench, where she had been sitting on Willow's right side, and went over to the music box.

Willow watched, interested and also relieved that Faith seemed to be over the near accident… at least somewhat.

After scanning over the titles, Faith put a coin in the jukebox and pressed one of the many buttons. Ambience, uh-huh. Even if only for a couple of minutes.

A for Willow unfamiliar, but pleasant song sounded through the restaurant. The slayer came back to the table and fished a lighter out of her pocket as she got back in her seat. The waitress had brought the drinks to the table already. Faith lit the candle with one quick movement. "There. That's better."

"Nice. This is kind of..." Willow stopped, letting the not-so-gloomy-anymore atmosphere a single candle and a little music could provide get to her, "...romantic..."

The redhead cringed immediately, _I didn't just say that. Oh, man, yesterday I called her 'cute' and now this…_

Faith raised her eyebrows with a smirk. "Doesn't take much to get _you_ in the mood, huh?"

she nudged Willow with her finger as this one turned slightly red.

_You're so getting yourself into trouble here, Rosenberg. Faith doesn't even see you like this. Too bad you can't say the same thing about yourself. Things would be simpler...things with Oz and...why is she looking at me like that?_

Faith had leaned back in her seat, her arms resting on the table, and was eyeingthe redhead. A smile was playing around her lips.

_It's kinda funny to watch her thinkin'. That little frown, her lips moving as if she's talking to herself, and the way she's burning a hole in the table with her stare. Makes you wanna be inside that little head and see what's going on in there. She's cute, alright. No reason to deny that…Oh, okay...now her stare is burning a hole into me..._

"What?"

"What?" they asked at the same time. Faith laughed and even Willow, despite her confusing thoughts, managed a little smile.

"Just wondered if there's actually a time when you're _not_thinking about things?" the slayer replied.

"I don't know. I don't...think so," Willow frowned; this and her comment earned her another chuckle from Faith.

The waitress came back with a big plate full of ribs and an a little smaller one with fries. Faith's eyes sparkled upon seeing the abundance of delicious food.

"There you go. That's 8.45 total," the woman informed them in the same monotone voice and put the bill on the table.

"Thanks," the friends replied and Faith immediately started on her meal. Civilized...well, as civilized as a hungry slayer can be. The cutlery wasgetting neglected; you don't need that if you have ten agile fingers.

Willow was more conservative at first and ate her fries with a fork.

They ate in silence for a while. Faith occasionally stole a fry or two from Willow's plate and offered the redhead some of her ribs in return.

The slayer decided to start a new topic. "So, how'd that test of yours go?"

"Hard to say, my mind was busy thinking about...," Willow risked a short glance at Faith, who herself was busy - gnawing on a rib, that is, "other things..."

The slayer put the remains of the rib down and picked up another one, her plate was almost empty by now. "Tell me," she mumbled and looked at the redhead questioningly.

When Willow didn't respond for several seconds, just fidgeted around and avoided eye contact with her, Faith back-paddled. "Okay, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to..." The slayer was a little disappointed. She had thought that some sort friendship was forming between them. _Talk to each other about everything. That's what friends are supposed to do, right? I mean, not that I know. I've rarely have been friends with anyone..._

Willow felt bad. She couldn't tell Faith the real reason, but she didn't want to lie to her either. For one thing, her lying abilities weren't all that great..._And for another you don't lie to your friends. Rule numbero uno in the friendship handbook._

"It's not that...," Willow mollified "It's complicated..."

"Maybe another time?" Faith asked hopeful.

"Of course," Willow replied, relieved that the matter was dropped for now, but not letting it show. _Hope we don't get back to this topic any time soon. I don't think she'll back off this quickly then..._

"Wonder what B'll get in her test, though," Faith switched the focus, "Think she's mad at me for dragging her out of class?"

Willow shrugged. "I don't know. But I don't think it will affect her grade curve that much."

Two seconds later, Willow noticed that her last sentence was rather double-entendre-y.

"Oh! I didn't mean it like that! Her grades aren't this bad so that an F wouldn't affect her final grade or anything, but...," the redhead blabbered on and on, gesturing wildly with her fork, "...it was a small test. Not that important, you know?" Right, only that important that Willow felt the need to do something to make up for her own test result…

"Right," Faith grinned again, amused by the trademark Willow-babble. This one blushed yet again and distracted herself with consuming the remaining parts of her meal.

Two minutes later the plates are emptied. Willow put her fork down and Faith wiped off her fingers on a napkin

"That was good!" The slayer announced and patted her stomach. Willow smiled at her and Faith noticed it…but also a little bit of chili sauce that was smeared on Willow cheek, close to the left corner of her mouth.

Without thinking, Faith scooted a little closer to Willow and leaned over. She put her hand on the witch's thigh for support. Willow squeaked startled, not knowing what the slayer was planning.

"Sorry," Faith mollified, but didn't move her hand. "It's just…you've got something on your...," she wiped the sauce off with her finger and Willow closed her eyes for a fraction of a second; Faith observed this, surprised. Remembering last night's encounter at the Bronze, she put 1 ½ and 2 together.

Experimentally, she held her finger to Willow's lips, almost putting some of the sauce on them. Willow's mind was on overload, she couldn't believe what was happening. She opened her mouth, intending to lick the sauce of Faith's digit….yeah, her brain apparently really wasn't all there…

But Faith had other ideas. Just when Willow's tongue was about to make contact with her finger, she retracted it and licked it clean herself.

Willow's eyes followed her movements, like hypnotized. Unknowingly she pouted when Faith's finger didn't touch her lips.

The slayer's eyes jumped to Willow's lips and back to those big green eyes that were focused on her. She thought for a second and moved in even closer to the redhead. She cupped her cheek and locked eyes with the redhead. Willow leaned into her touch and closed her eyes slightly.

Faith was so close now that their noses were almost touching. She hesitated, because she was not a hundred per cent sure if she was reading the signs right.

She looked into Willow's eyes, asking her for permission. Or waiting for a sign of rejection. She touched the ruby lips with her thumb and saw that Willow's eyes were fixed on her own mouth.

Taking this as a good sign, the slayer closed the marginal gap between them and kissed the witch. It was only a soft and short kiss, barely two seconds long, but it left them both wanting more.

The slayer tried again and still felt no resistance from the redhead. She put an arm on Willow's waist and pulled her closer. Not that Willow was complaining about this...although her subconsciousness told her to.

As the kiss progressed, their bodies moved closer together, Willow touching Faith's shoulder hesitantly. As always, she couldn't stop thinking.

_Oh, God, what am I doing? What is she doing?! I'm still with Oz! Oz, Oz... _

Faith grazed her bottom lip with her teeth and sucked it into her mouth. Willow moaned.

_...Oz has never kissed me like that...No, we can't do this. I need to..._

Willow moved her hands to Faith's face with the intension to pull herself away from the slayer...but apparently her body had other ideas. She wrapped her arms around Faith's neck and deepened the kiss.

Faith was pleased withthe redhead's eagerness and let her own hands wander over the other girl's body. She tugged on the hem of Willow's red sweater and moved her hands underneath, caressing the soft and warm flesh of her small back. Her right hand moved higher on her back, while the other one glid to her tummy. She found an especially ticklish spot right above Willow's belly button.

Willow pulled away eventually, mostly to catch her breath. But that was not the only reason.

"Faith, stop...," she grabbed Faith's left arm and removed it from her stomach. Sitting half-naked in a little pleasant restaurant wasn't exactly one of her favorites.

"Right, sorry. I thought we…you wanted...," Faith was disappointed – had she misread the signs after all…? "I didn't mean to..." _I didn't mean it like that. No, wait…I did. I want…_

"No! No! I didn't mean it like that!" Willow pacified, a little embarrassed,"I...this is nice and all, and I really like it... and you, obviously…and I want this...," _what is it that we're doing exactly? That was almost un-harmless kissing …AND touching, _"at least I think so, but don't you think we should...I mean, could we go somewhere...not that this isn't good, I mean, with the candle and the music and all, but we should go somewhere more…private..."

Faith kissed her again, briefly, just to stop the (adorable) babble. _Yeah, I want her. _"Okay. Come on, then. We'll go somewhere 'private'." Willow obliged quickly and took her jacket, pulled out a 10 dollar bill and put it on the table, before Faith could drag her out of the restaurant.

_Oh, God…__I think we're really gonna do… 'this'…?_

to be continued...

* * *

Again, thanks for your reviews, guys! You rock!

**Oh, and for next week...better bring a cup of coffee or two. That chapter is gonna be a _bit _longer... ;)**


	5. Puppy Love

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** R!!  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. Thank you all for these characters! bows  
**Schedule:** I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis...or in the case of this chapter, the next update will be in two weeks. Explanation later on.  
**Thanks to:** My lovely betas Wil-Lehane- and K. And Willownut, gave me hints and stuff throughout writing this chapter (the long version)

* * *

CHAPTER FIVE -- PUPPY LOVE (The sadly much abbreviated version)

**_Author's Note: While writing this chapter...about a year ago, I've already been awfully aware of 's policy concerning NC-17 rated material (i.e.: NC-17 is a no-go...strangely enough, some authors don't seem to be that aware of that fact...:P). And thus I've found a solution for this little problem that will allow the readers...who want to read the smutty stuff...to read it, but not here. Ergo:  
_**

**_For those who want to read the smut, which according to my betas isn't that unbearable smutty: _**  
_You can go to my author's profile and click on the permanent link that will lead you to "puppy love"._  
Anyway, knock yourselves out :P

_**For those who don't want to read the smut or are not legally allowed, et cetera pp.:**_  
You can read the following - the much abbreviated version of the chapter...basically the beginning and the end, and a summary of the most important things:

* * *

Willow didn't know how they had made it to Faith's motel room this quickly. _Not that I know how long it normally takes to get here. I have never been here before..._

With one flick of her wrist, the brunette had turned on the light; and now the redhead was backed against a wall and Faith was working to get this one's clothes removed. Faith's lips were practically glued to the witch's mouth; she couldn't seem to get enough of her. Her hands rested on Willow's waist, but crept slowly under her pullover, caressing the soft skin.

"Red...What's that smell?" Faith finally got out between kisses, "You know, something like lavender and...," she stopped shortly to sniff the air, "...garlic?"

"Oh!" Willow realized what Faith meant. "Uh...mm," the slayer attacked her lips again, "that's my...scapula..."

"Hmm?" Faith mumbled against Willow's lips. Before she realized it, her hands were pulling on the sweater, moving it up and over the redhead's head. Without looking, she flung the red garment carelessly across the room. The kisses stopped for a second, as she beheld the little black felt bag that dangled right between the witch's breasts. _Scapula, huh?_

"I-It's for protection...," Willow stammered out, one reason being Faith looking right at her bra-clad breasts, "...vampires."

Faith didn't even seem to notice. Having gotten the explanation, she went back her currently favorite pastime - kissing Willow.

"Mm, clever, but...," she lifted Willow's legs so that the older girl had to wrap them around her waist, "... now you don't need that one." The slayer walked over to the bed, lay Willow down gently. She removed the scapula and threw it in the general direction of the red pullover.

The brown-haired woman locked eyes with her counterpart again. Seeing a pullover-less Willow, with a look on her face that was somewhere between anticipating and apprehensive, she faltered suddenly. _I'm moving too fast. Way too fast...If we...if I keep going at this pace she's gonna feel as if she'd been hit by a truck... one that has an impressive front spoiler. Oh, stop it! Focus on Will!_ She tried to look the other girl in the eyes. _What if we do this and she regrets it later? _

Willow looked back at her expectantly. The room was silent except for their breathing. With every second that ticked by, Willow got more unsure. Not unsure in the sense of I'm-not-sure-I-want-to-sleep-with-her; unsure in the sense of Does-she-really-want-to-sleep-with-me? _Maybe that was a temporary thing...and now she looks at me and...she doesn't want me... _Willow's breath caught in her throat, but this time out of despair. _Of course...I mean, why would a girl like her want someone like me?_ She felt that unpleasant tingle creep into the area around her nose and eyes. _No, no, no, don't do it...don't cry..._ she closed her eyes.

Faith noticed this. _Stupid, what are you doing? She thinks you're pushing her away. Do something! _

Haltingly she reached out with her hand and placed it on the exposed skin of Willow's tummy. The green eyes opened again, slowly and full of sadness. _This is it. She's gonna tell you that..._

_Come on!_

Faith put on a hesitant smile. "Willow," she said her name lovingly. "Are you still sure you want this?" her hand was very still on the older girl's stomach. "I mean, this is a serious step. I don't want to you regret it later." _Why am I doing this? I didn't have a problem with laying Xander two weeks ago...Why now?  
_  
_What?_ Willow's mind was spinning. _She is asking me if I want to? That's...that's... _She looked into the brunette's eyes; the mighty-mighty slayer seemed anxious, frightened_...she cares...about me..._

Willow bobbed up and sat on the edge of the bed; Faith kneeled in front of her. The slayer looked away and bit her lip, her hand had dropped onto Willow's thigh.

Willow didn't hesitate for long; she moved her hand under the slayer's and finally interlaced their fingers. She tugged on her hand to draw Faith's eyes back to her own.

"Faith...," she started and thought about how she should say it. "I-I really want this right now. I-I mean, my mind's a little fuzzy a-and I don't know how we ended up here exactly, but...I want it, I guess." She sighed. "No, not guess, want...," she tugged on Faith's hand again, holding it tighter, "yeah, want, that's it. And I don't wanna think about later..." She laughed shortly. "You know, Buffy once said to me 'Seize the moment, 'cuz tomorrow you might be dead'...," Faith raised her eyebrows at this and Willow scrunched hers, "although...I don't think she had this in mind w-when she said it...but..." she sighed, thinking that her babble had destroyed the mood entirely.

But Faith just looked at her; a grin played around her lips. Willow frowned. "Where was I?"

Faith released her hand and moved up to kiss Willow softly. "I think...," she then said, "you tried to tell me...that you...don't want to sleep with me...," she tapped Willow's nose and made a move to get up.

The redhead's eyes went wide in shock. "What!? NO!! I...," Willow reached out and grabbed the slayer around the waist, "Oh, God, Faith..."

Faith silenced another possible Willow-babble-rant with a kiss. "Relax, sweetie, I got it," she smiled reassured. Willow sighed relieved. "I gotcha," she put her hand on Willow's cheek and moved to kiss her again. Soft, slow, exploring. Letting Willow get used to this situation.

She was happy when she finally felt Willow responding. The arms that still rested around her waist pulled her closer, her knees bumped against the edge of the bed and she had to brace herself on the bed with her hands. Willow's mouth opened and Faith's tongue slipped inside, dancing around, teasing Willow's tongue, withdrawing and shooting out again. She took her time to taste the other girl - a mixture of French Fries, chili sauce, breath mints...and the unique Willow-taste that was simply indescribable.

They sank down on the bed, Willow's hands never leaving Faith's waist, Faith's tongue never stopping with its exploration of Willow's mouth. The redhead sighed contently, feeling the slayer's weight on her body. The brunette pulled back her tongue playingly, back into her own mouth, luring Willow's tongue, asking it to follow.

Long minutes followed in which they forgot everything around each other...well, almost, because suddenly Faith got up. She remembered something.

"W-wha...," Willow moaned at the loss of contact, the heated kissage having left her with only a basic brain function. _Faith kissage - yummy, Faith gone - horrible!_ "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, cutie," Faith bent down and gave her a reassuring peck on the lips, "just gonna close the blinds." she explained and did so; "I bet you're not big on someone staring in on us, are you?" Faith grinned.

Willow nodded, surprised that Faith - despite her obvious horniness - was still able to think about things like that.

With other people, Faith wouldn't have bothered with things like that. She had an exhibitionistic nature and no problems with people watching her - and her possible bedfellows. One might say that she even got off on it at times. But not tonight. Tonight she felt protective, a feeling that was new and confusing to her, but not entirely unpleasant...at least, not yet.

As she went back to the bed and took in the half-naked form of the redhead - still slightly panting from their previous make-out session - another feeling grew in her - possessiveness._ I wanna have that girl all to myself._

Willow saw that look in the slayer's eyes - the hunger, lust, desire - and couldn't shake the feeling that she had never before been needed, wanted this much. This thrilled her more than anything else.

(...)

* * *

_**Author's Note: Awww...breaking it off just where the fun might begin, huh? Well, sorry, this is where it starts verging on NC-17...slowly starts verging on NC-17...**_

**_If you wanna know what happens in the missing 42 pages...(don't look at me like that; those two are simply too cute and funny and...hot...and everything...that's why the chapter turned out so long blush), here are the most important facts:_**

_- A couple of new nicknames come up, including "Reddie" and "Faithie"  
- Willow has insecurities about her own body, but Faith's reassuring her that she has "absolutely nothing to hide"  
- Faith comes sudden understanding about the vampires' urge to bite/lick/suck necks... :P  
- Willow does not always knowing how and where to touch Faith, but the slayer guides her gently and patiently  
- Faith lets Willow in on her nickname for...certain aspects of the female body...Hint: there are two of these aspects. The nickname? "**Puppy**"! Or "puppies" in plural. To quote Faith: "Puppies are fun to play with, you know...little perky thingies, really cuddlesome and soft to the touch, ... But you gotta be careful, ... especially the little ones are extremely...bitable." That's how the chapter got this title, hehe  
- Contrasting this we also have the word "kitty" for...you know...The name "fluffy" came in a close second, though  
- Gentle and caring, Faith takes things slow and lets Willow set the pace.  
- Oh, shock, Faith's not wearing panties!  
- Willow finds the little swell on Faith's tummy awfully adorable  
- "Red" is a natural redhead, though she used to color her hair because people made fun of it  
- Faith admits that Willow is "so absolutely beautiful"  
- Apparently the slayer has chocolate pudding eyes...  
- Ever notice that "Adam's Apple" is an awfully discriminating term...as far as girls are concerned :P  
- And it seems Willow has learned that another term for the hollow of the throat is "sorbilia maphonensis"...don't know where the hell she got that from...:P  
- And don't forget how "ticklish" the inside of the belly button can be  
- Exploring Faith's body equals "Willow in Wonderland"  
- And it's Xander's fault that Willow has to think of "warm apple pie" at a certain point...  
- Faith wishes she had Chameleon eyes...hard to keep track of every Willow-reaction sometimes_  
_**  
- Of course there is some of...in Willow-terms "you know" in these 42 pages too. But I guess you'll just have to imagine that ;)  
**_

**_And now - the end of the chapter:_**

* * *

(...)

Faith grinned self-contently. This had been a good one, one of her best nights since she could remember, but she decided to end it here. She had a feeling that Willow would probably recover much sooner than the little redhead herself thought, but she was okay with the way that it was now, happy in a lot of different ways and she knows that Willow probably felt the same about this.

Willow felt as Faith slowly shifted position and lay fully on top of her again, so that they were touching from head to toe. She noticed how the warm soft lips started to kiss her again; collar bone, neck, shoulders, lips, and the gentle hands caressed her all over before finally playing with her puppies one last time - a long last time. The redhead's hand went up to Faith's shoulder, slowly glid down her back. Her fingertips brushed against the rough pattern on Faith's left shoulder blade. Willow didn't get to see it, but had definitely felt the scarring earlier tonight already.

Faith didn't notice this as she got ready to slowly disentangle herself from Willow. She couldn't help but asked herself how this night would have ended if Willow hadn't been patrolling with them. Would she have staked Finch? Most likely. Would the police have found out? Probably. Would she have to spend the next couple of long decades behind prison bars...? Faith decided that it was better not to think about that. So instead she gave Willow one last kiss on the lips and rolled on her back, lying next to Willow.

Willow tentatively scooted over and bedded her head on Faith's chest. Faith nuzzled her hair briefly and kissed it, before drawing Willow's arm around her waist and resting her own behind her head. Faith had a pretty stupid grin on her face right now and she knew it; but she definitely had the right to it. She looked down at Willow and saw a similar expression.

_That was it...my first time. Different than I thought it would be. Not only because it was with a different person..._, she tried to suppress the Oz-thought that was creeping its way into her brain _...no...not a good time...I'll deal with this later, okay, brain...just let me..._and with this she snuggled ever closer to Faith and concentrated her thoughts on her. _I wonder how her first time had been. Was it as nice as this...? Everybody should have a first time as this..._, she sighed contently and just let herself feel and enjoy this moment.

She had no idea that the slayer's thoughts go back to her first time as well. Not that she wanted to - the though just came up and she tried to push it out of her brain quickly. It was not a really pleasant thought and she didn't want to spend this precious moment with it. You never know how long those would last, especially in a one-Starbucks-and-demon-free-for-all town like Sunnydale.

* * *

_**Author's Notes: Unorthodox way of handling this situation, but, hey, everything is better than keeping this from you altogether or posting smut on a smut-free page...besides I gave this entire story a T-rating and I want it to stay that way :P**_

**_The next chapter will be posted in fourteen days, not seven. This will give you time to recover (grin), me time to get a few school-related things sorted (hate the beginning of new semesters) and to look over the next few chapters one more time, and my betas time to read over possible changes I'll make to these chapters. Everyone okay with that? Let's hope..._**

_**And hope **__**all**__** this didn't confuse you too much :)**_


	6. Afterthoughts

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author:** lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing:** A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. Thank you all for these characters! Dialogues in this chapter are partly taken from the episode "Bad Girls". No copyright infringement intended. Some suggestions for the writing of the fight scene in this chapter are taken from the Bad Girls script on Buffy vs. Angel. Again, no copyright infringement intended :)  
**Schedule:** I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the because of...what do you call this again...oh, right, "life"! ;)  
**Thanks to:** My lovely betas Wil-Lehane- and K  
**Dedication: **To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them

**We're back on our weekly schedule now. Hope you all read the note at the end of chapter five and didn't ask yourself why there wasn't an update last week :)**

* * *

CHAPTER SIX -- AFTERTHOUGHTS

They lay like this for a good long while – Faith lying on her back, with one arm behind her head, while the other one was holding Willow. The redhead had snuggled up to the slayer, now playing with her belly button, drawing small circles around it.

"This was great," Willow murmured dreamily.

"I think you said that already. You know, like, seven...eight-hundred times or somethin',"

Faith said and tousled the red hair.

The redhead bedded her head a little higher, now it was resting on Faith's left breast. "I feel different, you know. I-I guess that makes sense. Do you feel different?" she glanced up quickly, "Oh, no, you've already. Probably no big change for you."

"But still, it's different each time, you know?" Faith responded.

"Really?" Willow lifted her head and looked at Faith.

"Course. Every time is a new experience. Some are not so good," Faith tucked a strand of hairbehind Willow's ear and smirked, "some are better." She gave Willow a short kiss on the forehead.

"So," the redhead grinned and let her hand wander over Faith's side, right down to her thigh, "you…wanna try again, maybe?"

"Oooh, baby, I created a monster!" the slayer smirked and one second later had flipped Willow over on her back.

"But not the real kind," the redhead grinned.

Faith laughed whole-heartedly. "Nah. You still got your soul, right?"

Willow traced Faith's dimples with the fingers of her left hand, "You should do that more often, you know..."

"What?" Faith asked her as her fingers tapped Willow's collarbone in their turn.

"Smile."

Faith didn't reply immediately, simply kept on smiling, working extra hard to bring out the best of her dimples. And finally Willow leaned up to kiss her again, and Faith complied, kissed her long and passionate.

Again hands roamed over soft skin, lips nibbled on earlobes, one body pressed deliciously into the other.

However…

A knock on the door interrupted them. The lovers broke apart, looking at each other, pondering for a second if they should simply ignore it. But when they heard Buffy's all too familiar voice shout, "Faith, it's me," round number two was suddenly the last thing on their minds.

"Ugh, great timing, B," Faith exclaimed, only loud enough for Willow to hear.

While Faith was more annoyed, the redhead's face graced a mixture of disappointment and panic.

"I'm coming!" the slayer said in a _sing-sang_ voice, giving the shocked Willow one last deliberate kiss, before disentangled herself from her embrace. She reached for the blanket next to Willow at the same time the redhead did.

"Faith!!" Willow whisper-screeched, "I need the blanket!" she squeaked desperately, clutching the blanket with both hands.

"No, I need it much more. You're not the one who's gonna open the door," Faith replied in a hushed voice and used her strength to pull the blanket out of Willow's grasp. "I can't go stand in front of B all naked, can I!?"

Seeing Faith standing there…not wearing much of anything, one hand braced against her side, the other hand holding the blanket, Willow considered this for a moment.

Faith looked down at herself and then back at Willow, who was wiggling her eyebrows mischievously_. _"On the other hand...," both started laughing.

Another knock on the door, more insistent. "Faith!!"

"Yeah, okay!" Faith shouted back and wrapped the blanket around herself. "Don't worry. She won't know you're here. It's a good thing we closed the curtains earlier," she whisperedto Willow and went to get the door.

The brunette opened it just a littleand stuck her head out into the cool midnight air. "Hey, B," she grinned.

Buffy's impatience was obvious. "We need to get to the warehouse. Giles and Wesley are in trouble. Angel's on the lookout in case something happens, but we can't take the vamps out alone. Strength in numbers," the blonde informed her quickly.

"Okay, just give me a second. Need to get dressed," Faith said and was about to close the door again when...

"Are you wearing something under there?" Buffy noticed Faith's 'outfit' a little intrigued, even though she probably wouldn't admit it.

"Why? You have a problem with me sleeping naked?"

"No," she said and Faith smirked. Buffy noticed that a 'yes' as answer very probably would have provoked the same reaction. "Hurry up. We need to get going."

Faith closed the door and looked over to the bed, just to see that one important thing is missing. The most important thing, to be exact.

"Red?" Faith whispered, a little confused by Willow's sudden disappearing act. She was relieved, when she heard some rustling in the bathroom. "Hey, sexy, where did you go?" she laughed softly and pushed the bathroom door open.

Willow was standing behind it with an arbitrarily collected pile of clothes on her arm. She had already pulled one sock over her foot. A bra was dangling from her pinkie.

"Didn't I tell you to stay in bed?" Confronted with this hilarioussight in front of her, Faith could barely keep a straight face.

"Sorry. I guess I panicked," Willow, though still slightly panicked, couldn't suppress a short laugh. "You think she saw me?"

"Hell, yeah! You should have seen the look on her face," Faith teased her a little.

"What?!" Red squealed_._

"Relax, Will," Faith dismissed this with a wave of her hand, "I'm just kidding." She went back into the room and started to pick up her clothes. "Pants, shirt, socks, shoes, vest...," she stopped and scratched her head, "Where's my...?" Remembering the amount of clothes that Willow was carrying at the moment, she turned back to her. "Uh, that's...," she snatched the item from Willow's finger, "_my_ bra, by the way."

Faith threw the blanket back on the bed and began to put on her clothes.

Willow came out of her hiding place and walked over to the bed again, dropping her own pile of clothes – and her sock – on the floor.

"That's right," Faith gave her a light slap on the behind, "get your little ass back into bed."

The getting dressed took Faith way less timethan the getting undressed before had taken her. The only items that still had to be put on now were the white shirt and the black vest.

"Okay, important instructions," she explained to Willow while she pulled the shirt over her head. "Do not – under no condition – open that door. Vamps don't need an invite to get into motel rooms."

Willow took it all in. She was still overwhelmed by how fast everything happened right now. Less than three minutes ago she had been about to sleep with Faith a second time and now the same girl was standing nearly fully dressed in front of her, preparing herself for another fight against evil.

"If one should get in, though...," the slayer opened the topmost drawer of her bedside table and took out a couple of stakes, a bottle of holy water and a cross. She handed Willow the cross, the bottle and two stakes to Willow and stuffed the remaining stakes in her waistband. "This should keep you relatively save. But I'll try to hurry back."

Faith pulled the blanket up to Willow's chin and gave her a peck on the cheek.

"You can watch TV if you want," Faith said, putting on her vest. "Or, there's books over there." Faith motioned with her head to the cupboard over the bed.

"Okay," Willow responded, a little surprised that Faith indeed _had _books. _Why shouldn't she have any? _her brain asked her.

"Later," Faith waved and exited the room.

* * *

Faith closed the door and quickly followed Buffy, who had already started to walk away.

"Man, you're slow," the blonde complained as Faith caught up with her.

"Well, sorry, Miss Grouchy Pants, you dragged me out of bed. What do you expect?" the brunette shrugged.

"Fine," Buffy grumbled.

They walked several minutes, not at an especially brisk pace, though – apparently Giles were Wesley's lives were not in any highly immediate danger. Buffy explained about how she had found the library empty and also demolished, how she had brought Finch home quickly, while conveniently running into Angel on the way, who told her about Giles and Wesley being held hostage.

"Did you get Willow home save?" Buffy finally asked, remembering where she had left them, standing in the alley.

"She's already lying in bed," Faith nodded slowly. "I tucked her in and everything. Even gave her a good night kiss," she chuckled. She hadn't answered this question one hundred per cent correct but she hadn't lied about anything either.

Buffy threw her a skeptical look and Faith laughed even more.

"You two seem to be getting along pretty good lately," Buffy remarked. Part of her was relieved that the brunette seemed to be back at her old self again.

"Yeah…Red's pretty cool once you really get to know her, you know?"

Buffy smiled, already planning to thank Willow for her good work in cheering up her fellow slayer. But suddenly she scrunched her eyebrows and sniffed the air, "What's that smell?"

"W-What smell?" Faith stuttered out, a little afraid that Buffy might be picking up the scent of a particular redhead on her – slayer senses and all. Why, she couldn't really say. Maybe it was for Willow's sake that she didn't want the blonde to know.

"Mostly garlic...might be lavender involved. Almost like Will's sca…bag…thingie, just different."

"Uh...," Faith started to think of a plausible not-sex-involving explanation.

They had no chance to continue this conversation, because they reached the warehouse and B ran over to Angel to see how things were going.

Faith sighed a silent sigh of relief. _Give it up for B's attention span. And here she told me I was the one with that problem. _She shook her head and followed seconds later.

* * *

Meanwhile Willow was sitting on Faith's bed, her back was leaning against the headboard. The redhead had put on a big and comfy shirt of Faith's that had been lying near the bed.

She was picking some invisible lint off the green-white-grey checkered blanket and thought about what had happened in the last couple of hours. Now that Faith was gone, she actually had time to do that again.

_What am I going to say to Oz? After that thing with Xander he's never going to trust me again. And this is even worse, Xand__er and I just kissed, but we...even now I can't say it._

Willow shook her head with a wry smile.

_Maybe I shouldn't say anything to him. Pretend that nothing happened..._

Immediately, memories of Faith's gentle caresses came back to her. How the brunette had taken her time with her, how she had made sure to do nothing that Willow didn't really want, how she had let her control everything that happened between them.

_Wait, no, I wouldn't give this up for anything. The way she made me feel, I haven't felt this way before. And not only because of…that. I never thought that she could be this gentle._

_I mean, not that I can compare this to anything. I mean, I'm sure that Oz would be tender too, but she was just so…_

Willow decided that she didn't want to think about her predicament for now. She was looking for something to distract her. At random, she grabbed one of the books from the shelf and looked at the cover. It was a Peanuts comic book, about 200 pages thick. "No way!" Willow said out loud and thumbed through the book.

_I wonder if she's a closet "A Charlie Brown's Christmas" watcher. I could have invited her over. _A soft smile played around her lips.

_She c__ould have come over instead of Oz and we could have...why am I thinking like this? Do I care more for her than I do for Oz? _She subconsciously traced a picture of Lucy with her finger.

* * *

Angel stood near the entrance of the warehouse. None of the Eliminati were in sight, either being dusted already or waiting inside the building.

"You're right on time. I think there's trouble ahead," the vampire informed them.

Faith climbed on a crate to look through one of the windows; Buffy stood next to Angel and peeked inside through a gap of the almost closed gate_._ They overheard the watchers and Balthazar.

Said demon was enormously fat with very pale, pasty skin. He sat in a tank of filthy water, while one of the Eliminati poured ladle after ladle of it over him in an effort to keep his skin moist.

Wesley and Giles were being held before Balthazar.

"Now, hold on. We-we-we can deal with this rationally. We have something you want. You have something we want," they heard Wesley and figured that he was talking about the amulet.

"Hmm... A trade. Intriguing." The fat demon considered this for a moment, before..., "No. Wait. Boring. Pull off his kneecaps!"

Two of the vampires got a hold of Wesley who screamed horrified. "NOOO! No, no, no!" They let go of him and he caved. "The Slayer g-gave it to someone. A tall man, a friend... a friend of hers. I can tell you everything."

"Gnuagh…," Buffy groaned under breath.

"My exact thought, B," Faith agreed. Angel was his usual broody, taciturn self, though an expert eye could probably see a reaction somewhere in him.

"Quiet, you twerp! They'll kill us both," Giles barked at the other watcher.

Wesley was clearly panicking now. "But I'd like to have my kneecaps!" he whimpered.

Balthazar was getting impatient and gesticulated wildly with his arms. "You will tell us everything!"

"Yes! Sir," Wesley agreed.

"What is this friend's name?" Balthazar barked.

Moving his lips to respond, Wesley was actually at a loss, "I didn't actually catch it."

"Look, um, tell you what, let Captain Courageous here go, and I'll tell you what you need to know. How's that deal?" Giles asked the demon in the Jacuzzi.

"There is one deal! You will die quickly, or you will die slowly!" he shouted and the rescue team outside got ready for their operation_._ Buffy and Angel slid the gate open without a noise while Faith jumped down from the crate. "The man who has my amulet! What is his name?!"

"His name is Angel," Angel said and walked in, the two slayers close behind.

The vampire immediately grabbed the two Eliminati holding Giles and Wesley and pulled them away from the watchers. Slamming one of them into a wall and the other into some metal shelves, he noticed another vampire taking their place in holding the watchers. But Giles had the presence of mind to head-butted him, sending him to the ground.

Buffy joined the action, backhanding one vamp and face-punching another one not one second later. The first raised his sword and got ready to attack; the blade, however grabbed his arm and stopped him. Making him lose the sword, she kneed him in the gut.

Faith sprung forward and staked the vampire that Buffy had just punched in the face. She picked up the abandoned sword; Giles saw this and turned his tied hands toward her.

She swung the sword in a high arc and brought it down to slice the ropes binding his wrists. The pieces fell to the floor as Giles grabbed Wesley and pushed him out of harm's way.

Buffy picked up another sword and swung it back at the Eliminatus, but he caught her hand and swung the sword down against the edge of Balthazar's pool, forcing her to drop it.

He backhanded Buffy, making her trip forward, but she returned with a back kick at him, and then rolled onto a large crate to avoid being sliced by another one's sword.

Balthazar was flailing his arms, "Un...," he sputtered, "Unacceptable!"

Angel ducked a swing from an Eliminatus and did a right hook to his face, before punching him hard in the gut. He turned around and backhanded the one behind him.

Faith was engaged in a swordfight with another Eliminatus. So far she seemed to have the upper hand, the vampire's swingswere desperate rather than effective. The Eliminatus tried his luck and kicked her in the shin, which made Faith lose her balance for a second. He swung at her again and the slayer barely managed to pull her head away. Nevertheless the sword cut her left cheek, just millimeters away from her mouth. It is a shallow cut, but Faith screamed, enraged.

She lunged at the vampire again and cut his arm. He dropped his sword, but delivered a hard blow to Faith's right eye with the uninjured arm within almost a second. Faith kicked him in the gut and he stumbled backwards. One last swing, aimed at his neck, and he was history.

"Unacceptable!" Balthazar screamed displeased.

Out of the way of the fight, Giles untied Wesley's hands. Behind him a vampire roared, and he looked back in time to see him aiming his sword at them. It hit a shelf and Giles grabbed the blade, elbowed the vamp in the face, taking the sword from him.

He swung it around and jammed the hilt of the sword into his face as well, then spun around in time to take on another one. The Eliminatus swung his sword at Giles, who parried it with his own. Fighting for the upper hand, Giles finally kicked his face, sending him to the ground and making him lose his sword.

In the meantime, the one whose sword had been taken away by Giles grabbed Wesley from behind, pinning his arms behind his back.

"Mr. Giles!" Wesley screamed.

Giles raised his sword and started to swing it. "Down!"

Wesley bent over fast, and the blade sliced the vamp's neck. The beheaded Eliminatus bursts into ashes. Wesley stood back up, shocked at what just happened.

One Eliminatus grabbed Faith from behind and shoved her forward with the intention to drive her face first right into the nearest wall. She managed to spin around in time, so that it was her back that made hard contact with the concrete. The slayer recovered quickly and delivered a kick in his side. He stumbled but got a hold of a pillar which prevented his fall. He was powerless against the stake that Faith drove into his back seconds later.

Buffy got to her feet on a raised area of the floor. An Eliminatus came at her with a sword, but she grabbed his arm and pulled him past her over a crate and into a barrel. Another one swung at her, and she blocked him, punched him in the gut, before she had to duck another swing and backhand him in the face.

He fell to the floor. Buffy picked him up and sent him spinning into a huge pile of ropes. As he tried to come at her again, she did a spinning wheel kick to his face. He quickly regained his balance and tried to punch her, but she redirected his fist and held onto it while she elbowed his face. She swung him around and threw him into a bunch of oil barrels.

Angel delivered a side kick to his attacker. Another one tried to front kick him, but he grabbed his leg and threw him into a wall. Another one came for Buffy. She just grabbed him by the arms and threw him from the raised floor to below.

She blocked a kick from another and nearly got punched in the face. She punched him in the gut, and he doubled over, backing away a bit. This gave her room to fly into one of her expert kicks. The vampire flew upward spinning fast and landed hard on a crate, then rolls off onto the floor below.

An Eliminatus got Angel in the face with a crescent kick, but he was not fazed. Angel blocked a punch from him and punched him in the gut. Then he grabbed him and threw him into a wall. Balthazar had had enough and held out his arms. The air between him and Angel became disturbed, and Angel found himself being sucked back toward him. He landed on his back on the edge of the pool.

Balthazar seized his head in both hands. Angel struggled to get away, but the grip was extremely tight. Faith saw what's happening and looked for a way to help. She spied an electrical cable hanging down from a lamp directly above Balthazar.

She grabbed it and yanked hard. The lamp fell from the roof with sparks flying right into the pool. Balthazar immediately let go of Angel and writhed in agony as he was electrocuted. Giles, Buffy and Wesley stared in amazement.

Soon Balthazar seemed dead and the circuit breakers shut off the power. Buffy rushed over to help Angel. He was shaken but fine. Faith looked at Balthazar and was startled when his eyes whip open and he takes a sudden breath.

"Slayers!" he wheezed in a weak voice. "You think you've won," he chuckled. "When he rises... you'll wish I'd killed you all." He let out his last breath and died.

"What's he talking about?" Faith asked her team; three of them looked as clueless as she felt.

"I know what he's talking about. It's the mayor," the blonde replied and folded her arms.

"What?" four disbelieving voices exclaimed in unison.

"I'm calling a meeting, Monday morning, before class. I'll fill you in. Okay?" Buffy asked her companions.

General agreement_. _The group split up and all of them head off into their respectivedirections.

* * *

Faith came into the room and Willow looked up from the Peanuts book she was reading and smiling at. She took in the slayer's appearance, the cut in the cheek, the bruise under her eye, but also a brown bag that she was carrying.

"Hey," Faith said and tried to smile, but the cut still hurt a little too much.

"Hey," Willow put her book down, concerned, "what happened?"

"Ah, nothing much, one of those sword guys came too close to me, I guess," she explained as she walked over to the bed and handed the bag to Willow. "I brought you something." From previous observations she was fairly familiar with the Scoobies' preferences, including Red's.

Willow sat up and opened the bag, in which she found a mocha cup. "Oh, thanks, Faith. You're so sweet," she grinned.

"Hm, no one's ever called me that before," she laughed as she pulled off her boots and sat next to Willow on the bed, while this one started on her mocha. "So. We got news."

"Hm-mh?" Willow replied swallowing her drink. The mocha was not as sweet as she usually liked it, a little heavy on the coffee side, but it was the thought that counted.

"B got some info from Finch about a big, big bad in town. Apparently the mayor isn't the nice guy you all thought he was."

"What?" Willow asked, as she put the almost empty mocha cup on the bedside table and faced Faith. "Seriously?"

"Yup," Faith nodded. "B's called a meeting for Monday morning, before class. She'll fill us in on the details then."

"Okay, good." At least the filling-in part. The Mayor-being-evil part was less good.

"Oh, I think she's gonna call you sometime tomorrow, so try to act surprised when she tells you about this, all right?" Faith winked.

"Right," the redhead replied and picked up the cup again. She drank some and offered the rest to Faith, who emptied it – almost pulling a face at the actual sweetness of it – and put the cup back on the table, leaning over Willow to do so.

This gave Willow the opportunity to get a closer look at the cut on the slayer's cheek. She touched the area around it with her fingertips. Faith sat back on her calves, faced her and Willow now touched the reddish-blue bruise under her eye with the back of the hand that had just caressed the slayer's cheek.

"Does this hurt?" Willow asked caringly.

Faith's eyes went soft, even softer than before, "Nah, not really," she smiled.

Seeing Faith reaction to this caress by nestling her cheek into her hand, Willow's heart made a decision_. As soon as Oz gets back, I'll tell him about this. I just hope he doesn't take it too hard. _Willow took the slayer's face in her hands and pulled her towards her. _But I think I'm falling in love with her. _She kissed the bruise lightly.

"What are you doing?" Faith asked her, looking into her eyes.

Willow now kissed her just above the cut in her cheek. "I'm kissing it better."

Faith was surprised that Willow remembered this little detail from the night they had experienced the latest Sunnyhell-apocalypse. She got a mischievous look in her eyes, as she got an idea. Slowly she reached down and moved her hand under the hem of Willow's shirt. "You know…I probably have bruises in other places too...," she said and traced circles on the redhead's belly.

"Vixen," was the only thing Willow could reply before Faith pushed her back on the bed and kisses her deeply.

Willow was an extremely quick learner. Everything Faith had shown her earlier she put into practice already,perfectly. She knew exactly where to touch the other girl when and how. Faith was pleased and Willow was more than happy with the way things were right now.

Afterwards Willow fell asleep, more than exhausted. She had curled up on her side, facing Faith who was still awake had turned to face her, watched her, listened amused to Willow's sleep-talking.

_to be continued..._

* * *

A/N: I'm soooo happy I'm getting so many reviews from you guys :))) Keep it up, hehe

A/N #2: Before I forget to ever mention it...here's why the story's working title had been **_That Night_**: Originally the story was supposed to be pretty short. It all started with an idea me and one of my betas had, which involved Willow and Faith eating ribs after Willow fortunately had prevented the staking of Allan Finch. Well...and the rib-eating then originally lead to lip nibbling...and of course, ultimately the smut. But it wasn't even planned that chapter five turned out _this _long, and more importantly, chapter five was supposed to be the last one. BUT the story just turned out more fun than I expected it would be. Well, and consequently _longer_. _Much longer_. You'll have to wait and see just how _long_, actually, but I can tell you this - the story is far from over. Hope you'll stick around :)))


	7. Bye Bye Love?

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author:** lilyme  
**Summary: **Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing:** A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. Thank you all for these characters!  
**Schedule:** I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the because of...what do you call this again...oh, right, "life"! ;)  
**Thanks to:** My lovely betas Wil-Lehane- and K  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them

* * *

CHAPTER SEVEN -- BYE BYE LOVE?

This was amazing. She was lying next to Willow and watched the pretty redhead sleep. At some point she edged closer put an arm around her, just to notice the other girl snuggling into her and resting her head on her chest. A few minutes later, the wicca began to stir and opened her eyes.

"Morning," she mumbled sleepy, but cheery.

"Hey," Faith smiled and held her redhead tighter, observing how Willow used the fortunate opportunity and position to yawn into her chest.

Faith brushed some hair out of Will's face to be able to see a little bit more of her. At the moment it looked as if the redhead was about to fall asleep again; nuzzling Faith's chest, her eyes were drifting shut and stayed that way for a long time, just to open again briefly and repeat the act several times.

The slayer let her rest, but busied her herself with occasional kisses to the witch's head and forehead.

"Okay…'m up," Willow finally announced her awake state. Faith's caresses made it almost impossible to sleep any more. In a good way, of course. The redhead raised her head to look at her partner. Seeing the amused smirk, she had to ask. "What?"

"You're simply too cute when you're waking up…," Faith explained and scrunched her eyebrows, "or in any other stage of sleeping actually," she added and earned a little kiss from soft lips.

Willow leaned back and grinned mischievously, "Seems to me…you're growing soft…," she poked Faith chest challengingly with her index finger.

_Turned soft a long time ago_, Faith thought. "Hm…I think I know who's responsible for this," she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"Oh, yeah?" Willow asked coyly.

"Oh, yeah!" Faith replied and attacked Willow, pinning her to the bed. "But I'm not toooo soft, am I?" she asked, her eyes demonstrating that she demanded a (for her) acceptable answer.

Willow still grinned, "You can prove your degree of softness-slash-non-softness to me, if you wanna…," she suggested with a smirk.

Faith apparently liked that plan and bent down to kiss the redhead thoroughly. Her possessive hands claimed everything that came within reach – hair, arms, face, puppies; her lips kissed and nibbled sloppy trails across neck and face, of course paying some special attention to the earlobes as well.

Until this point, the redhead held her arms around the slayer's waist and simply enjoyed the caresses.

Gently breaking the witch's hold on her, Faith's body slid lower as her hands grazed Willow's flanks and thighs and her lips slowly but surely edged closer to the spot they wanted to be.

Stopping briefly at Willow's tummy, she blew light kisses on it, making the skin and Willow herself jump from the ticklish sensation.

The lack of ravage-y-ness provoked the redhead into a, "Softie," that was followed by almost uncontrollable giggles.

"Now you're in trouble!" incited, Faith ignored the belly and slid further down. Just one millisecond later and she would have reached her goal. Mocking Willow had just ruined her chance of getting any more gentle treatment.

But before she could show Willow what you could get yourself into calling a might-mighty slayer 'Softie', a fuzzy feeling overcame her. Just as if all that what was just happening here, _wasn't _really happening.

And she seemed to be right. The next moment she was standing in a dark room, no sound, no illumination, nothing. Except for the soundless slideshow that broke loose without warning, almost blinded her in its brightness.

Two blurred figures, a male and a female one; she couldn't tell but she was certain that she hadn't seen them before.

Willow-kissage.

The deputy mayor lying lifelessly on the ground, presumably dead.

Vomit.

Herself running, panicked and disoriented.

Her bags, being thrown out of a house.

Broken shards of glass on the ground. Blood on its edges.

A hospital room. A figure that hid its face under the hood of a sweater.

Willow-kissage, lots.

The inside of a wagon train. A sign saying, "… 48 miles"

Vampires pursuing someone who seemed unaware of them.

A broken, bloody bottleneck in her own hand. Blood clinging to her hand.

Willow, unconscious and bleeding severely.

Faith awoke with a start. Though it was still dark, she knew exactly where she was. In her motel room. In her bed. And she wasn't alone.

Quickly she turned on her side to face the girl beside her. She was relieved to see Willow here, since it was proof that it all had been just a bad dream. The second part, at least. A _really _bad dream.

Just as much as she was relieved, she was also scared. Dreams like that are never to be taking lightly…especially when you are a slayer – a species that is prone to have prophetic dreams from time to time.

Until this point they had never happened to her. That was still Buffy's specialty. But what on earth told her that this dream – despite the unlikeliness – could _not _be prophetic in some way? There is always a first.

Faith was torn between hoping it was only a dream and fearing the worst. If this really had been a prophetic dream…then she had to do something. Soon.

Get away from her.

But she didn't know how to do it and most importantly – if she would have the strength to do it. It was of little use to deny her fondness of the pretty redheaded girl. This was obvious – how else would she justify her own behavior if there hadn't been at least one tiny little shimmer of affection involved?

Normally she didn't treat her sex partners this gentle and courteous. With others, even with her so called 'exes', it had always been hard and fast, and all parties concerned had been mostly concerned with their own pleasure. A mutual 'get down and dirty' without thinking too much about it.

But with Willow it seemed to be different. Maybe because she was one of the Scoobies. Faith suddenly realized that she had now slept with half of them. And it…she felt weird. Screwing half the half the town suddenly seemed less freaky than having sex with half the Scoobie Gang. And it wasn't like she hadn't thought about the rest of them this way. Even Giles. For a very brief moment.

She ignored the thought as Willow stirred almost unnoticeably. But the redhead didn't wake up, she just pulled the covers up to her chin and mumbled something that Faith couldn't make out and that was accompanied by occasional smiles.

Faith's heart melted. She couldn't just do that to her, could she? Just up and leave her?

She could just see the scenario this could lead to. Willow's wasn't like Xander; he would probably deal in the long run, he would get over his acting weird around her. Willow on the other hand…she seemed so fragile sometimes.Especially now, lying here right next to her, sleeping and sleep-talking. And although Faith knew that the little redhead was stronger than she looked – she was certain that she wouldn't have handled her almost staking of the deputy mayor half as good without Willow – she feared the consequences of what they _had done_ and especially those of what she was more and more deciding _to do_.

Would Willow run off to Buffy and tell what evil Faith did to her? Well, if she did then the blonde would come to beat her black and blue. Not that Faith couldn't take her fellow slayer, but she didn't even know if she would try to do that if it came to the showdown.

She reached out and brushed a strand of red hair behind the witch's ear, let her fingers linger just a little longer than necessary.

Yeah, Faith would have to deal with the consequences, once they came upon. But everything was better than being responsible for Willow getting hurt or even worse…in the future. Ending this here was for the better. She could handle being loathed and despised by the Scoobs for the rest of her life, as long as Willow was safe.

She pulled her hand back and closed her eyes. Trying to get some sleep. No, not sleep…she was too agitated for that…she just wanted to wait for the sun to rise so that she could leave without having to fear that some monster crept into the room and hurt Willow after all.

Staying here and telling Willow that it couldn't work...not an option. She was too much of a coward for that.

* * *

Faith opened her eyes when she felt that it was light out. Even though the curtains were drawn, the early morning sun made itself known.

She hadn't really slept since she had woken up from her nightmare, had just tried to pass the time somehow. Now she snuck her way out of bed, careful not to disturb Willow.

The slayer rummaged through her dresser, looking for a clean pair of trousers and a top.

She turned to the bed to make sure that the redhead was still sleeping.

Willow was lying on her back now, still, fast asleep. The covers had slipped down to her waist, leaving her upper body exposed. Confronted with this sight, it took a lot of strength out of Faith to not to wake the redhead and ravage her here and now.

The dark-haired girl put on her clothes quickly, stealing a glance at the sleeping beauty in her bed every now and then. This time not only to make sure that she was asleep, but also because she liked what she saw and thought that this was probably the last time she would see the other girl like this.

She licked her bottom lip before she bit it, went into the bathroom and closed the door. She just washed her face and brushed her teeth. She wanted to shower, but was too afraid that the noise would wake Willow; the creaking water-pipe was bad enough as it was. She didn't bother to put on make-up, just brushed over her hair a couple of times and stepped into the bigger room.

She put on leather boots and leather jacket and got ready to leave. Throughout the whole process she still wondered if she was doing the right thing. A battle was going on inside her mind, as if there were two little Faith's sitting on her shoulders, telling her what to do.

_Coward, coward, coward, _one Faith taunted her. _You've always been a coward. One little dream and you're on the run. Oh, wait…I know what this is…you're using that dream as a__make-believe, aren't you? The really fluffy, cozy relationship stuff scares you. You're afraid to let anyone get close to you__.__ again. Afraid that anyone might get a chance to get to know the real you, care about you, might even love you. And even worse – that you returned__those feelings._

Of course the other Faith had to contribute her opinion to this conversation. _Or maybe she's just wise enough to stop, _this one countered, talking more to the little Faith on the opposite shoulder than to the real one, who was about to put her hand on the doorknob. _She knows of her talent to screw things up. Hurting people and getting hurt in return._

Faith looked at Willow one last time, maybe one time too much. She let go of the doorknob and slowly inched towards the bed, as the voices bantered on, trying to get her on their side.

_Get back in there, be close to her, love her, you'll like it. This was just a dream. Don't just leave her here alone in your room._

_Get out of here, before something happens that you __make a mistake.__will regret forever. Prophetic dream much?_

Faith stopped maybe two feet away from the redhead, sighing softly. Her hands reached out and pulled the bed sheets higher, covering Willow's upper body again. The redhead stirred, but didn't wake up – Faith was only partly relieved about this.

She turned around, too afraid that she might not be able to fight the urge to lie down beside Willow and hold her close.

She practically ran out of the room, away from Willow, away from possible happiness.

_That's gonna have consequences, you know, _one of the voices says. Nobody knew which one.

* * *

It was not long after Faith's exit that Willow started to wake up. With a smirk, she rolled onto her side, expecting to see Faith there as soon as she opened her eyes.

She did so...and frowned. The bed beside her was empty, the sheets were crumbled, _and still warm,_ Willow realized as she touched them.

Willow thought that Faith maybe just went to the bathroom. But seeing that the bathroom door was open and hearing not the slightest sound except for her own breathing, she noticed that the slayer was gone. And had left her here.

Willow slowly made her way out of the bed and wrapped the blanket around her, holding on to it tightly. She felt cold, left alone in Faith's dingy and cheap motel room. Sunrays that began to sneak into the room through the still closed curtains underlined its desolateappearance.

She felt cold, left alone in Faith's dingy and cheap motel room. Sunrays that began to sneak into the room through the still closed curtains underlined its desolateappearance.

The carpet was worn and dirty, the paint on the walls was chipped, peeling off in some spots, the furniture – which consisted of the bed, the small table the TV was on and the drawer were old.The surface of the drawer was scratched, light rings gracedthe yellowish-brown surface_, _the remains of too hot coffee mugs that had been standing on it for too long,one handle on the middle drawer was missing, nobody had bothered to replace it.

She felt sorry for Faith, wondered how the Slayer could live here. The only word to describe this room might be 'nightmare'. Willow was surprised at how much different the room appeared the night before, so much warmer, lovelier. What difference daylight can make.

_No, that's not it. What made it different is that Faith was here with me._

The girls' clothes were still strewn all over the room. But not only them, also several magazines and various comics. Okay, she was kind of messy. Her mother would psychoanalyze that a normal teenager behavior.

Willow frowned at that thought, but the comics brought a smile to her face, lifted her mood somewhat. And suddenly hope sparkedin her, hope that Faith had maybe just went out to get breakfast or something like that.

Willow picked up her clothes and, passing Faith's improvised punching bag - pillows duct-taped to the door jamb - went into the bathroom. She looked at herself in the cracked mirror and was half-shocked, half-fascinated by what she saw there. The whole area around her neck and collar bones was basically covered with hickeys. _Guess I'll have to wear a turtleneck for the rest of the...year..._Willow grinned at that thought.

She opened the blanket and looked down at her body. _Whoa, there also._

Several spots on her body, those that Faith had touched with her mouth for more than a millisecond, showed a nice shade of red or blue.

_Gym class is going to be interesting...If someone asks I'll tell them it's a form of...insert possible not-too-unnerving disease here...hickeykum hornyum hunterum...?_

She put on her clothes and brushed her hair with Faith's brush that she found on the small rack next to the mirror.

Afterwards she decided to make some coffee while she waited for the Slayer's _hopeful _return.

She took the time the coffee needed to brew to bring some order into Faith's home. The redhead made the bed, put Faith's clothes on one pile and collected the various magazines and comics.

Then she filled herself a coffee cup and waited. And waited.

And waited.

Three cups of coffee later – it was hard to tell how much time went by since Faith apparently didn't have a clock – Willow made her way to the bathroom again, giving up.

Washing out the coffee mug, she thought about how last night might just have been another one-night-stand for the slayer. One more imaginary notch in her bed-post_._ Although she truly hoped that it wasn't so, she couldn't help feeling used.

Willow exited the motel room with a strange feeling, as if she was being watched. She looked around, but nobody seemed to be there.

She didn't see Faith standing behind a corner and the tears that had been running down her cheeks.

_to be continued..._


	8. True Lies

**Title: **Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author:** lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing:** A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. Thank you all for these characters!  
**Schedule:** I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the because of...what do you call this again...oh, right, "life"! ;)  
**Thanks to:** My lovely betas Wil-Lehane- and K  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them

**A/N #1: **I know Faith's actions were probably a little...weird. Don't necessarily like the way it happened that much either...but we could say, "Faith works in mysterious ways" ...No, I'm not a blasphemer :P

**A/N #2: **And we continue the chapter-title-movie-associations thingie in this episode. See?

* * *

CHAPTER EIGHT -- TRUE LIES

Faith waited until she felt that Willow was gone and wouldn't return any time soon. Only then she left her hiding spot, which was only thirty feet away from her room, at the corner of the motel wing opposite of hers, to head back to her room.

The tears hadn't stopped; Faith was far too troubled for that to happen. Maybe letting Willow wake up alone in her room hadn't been the best choice of action, but she simply couldn't walk over to the redhead and tell her face to face that this between them couldn't … shouldn't work. No, not couldn't walk up to – wouldn't. She didn't want to see those beautiful green eyes cry because of her. She knew that she couldn't keep them from crying, but, dammit, she didn't want to be there to witness it.

She just hoped that Willow would get over it eventually.

When she reached her motel room, she noticed Willow's cleaning-aria with a little smile, but with a sad frown as well – wondering why Little Red had done this. To distract herself? As a sign that she cared? Or that she felt home in her room? _No_…'distract herself' was most likely the right guess, passing the time until Faith would come back…or not.

Faith knew that it had been like that somehow. She had to wait for almost an hour, before Willow had finally left her room.

As she walked into the bathroom, she noticed the newest gush of tears that were wetting her cheeks. She didn't bother to wipe them away, as she stood in front of the cracked mirror and looked at her own reflection. She looked pale, weary; last night's make-up that she hadn't taken off, now painted her face. In connection with her sallow lips – caught in a struggle of trying to keep from quivering and smiling tensely – it gave her the appearance of a woeful clown.

She brought her hand to her lips, touched them gingerly. If she concentrated hard enough, she could still feel the sensation of Willow kissing her – and even more important, the sensation of herself kissing the redhead, almost everywhere.

The cut and the bruise had disappeared overnight and Faith thought that, despite from inherited slayer healing, Willow's tender caresses had had a healing effect. Caresses that she would never feel again, neither from fingers nor from lips.

It's for the better, Faith tried to tell herself again and again.

Pulling her clothes off, she got ready for her long-awaited shower. And maybe washing away the memories – something that she knew was (luckily) almost impossible to do – was also on her agenda.

* * *

Willow stepped out of the shower and grabbed a bathrobe and a towel for her hair. When she had come home she had felt the need to take a shower, though she didn't know why.

Okay, there had been the effects of the three cups of coffee; she knew why Buffy always kept an eye on her when it comes to that. The shakiness was definitely not something she was terribly fond of. That's why her shower had been particularly cold. But apart from that she couldn't name another reason.

Walking out into the hall, heading towards the living room, she felt lonely. Being alone in the house had often bothered her, but today it hurt especially. She thought about heading over to Xander or calling Buffy, but at the same time she didn't feel up for it. She needed to get her thoughts sorted without any seemingly ineffectual questions about how her night had been. Plus she new that at least the blonde would call her later on.

Somewhere on her way she started to pick up old newspapers from the coffee table in the living room and throw the away. Afterwards she folded up the blanket she had thrown on the couch carelessly the day before. She also thought that a smallish-big house cleaning was overdue. Was this a side-effect of the being dumped by Faith, a side-effect of the 'Used-Willow syndrome' maybe?

_No…Faith didn't use me…there has to be some other explanation…_

* * *

The rest of the day, Willow spent waiting for any sign, any reaction from Faith. She sat by the telephone for hours – waiting for that one phone call, from Faith, that would explain where the slayer had been when she had woken up, why she had to wake up alone.

When the phone rang she nearly jumped up six feet that was how engrossed she was in her thoughts. It was Buffy, of course, just like Faith had said. She told her that she was going to call a meeting for tomorrow before class, followed by some incomprehensible stuff about the evil doings of the Mayor.

The blonde herself wasn't too clear about it herself, said that she and Giles...and Wesley – just because he was in charge – would go talk to Finch later today and give the rest of the Scoobies the info in tomorrow's meeting.

Willow asked her if she should come too, but Buffy just told her to simply hang out, "spend time with Oz or something".

_Sure, "spend time with Oz" who's about 200 miles north from here, touring with the Dingoes and is supposed to get back on Tuesday...Great, I thought Buffy knew about that…A-And I can't believe that this is the first time I thought about him since yesterday. Not surprising, when you're entire brain is occupied with...her. I wasn't even this one-track-minded when I first fell in love with him. Am I in love with him? Was I ever? But I'm in love with Faith. Great, she who scampers off in the middle of the night, just to... I don't know why … _

The phone rang again and Willow almost let it drop this time, she snatched it up so quickly.

"Faith?" she called into the mouthpiece, hopeful that it was the slayer and that she would put her mind at ease.

"Uh, no, it's Oz," the man replied a little confused.

"Oh, h-hi, Oz," she stammered, nervous and embarrassed.

"Yeah, I just wanted to let you know that we won't be home before Sunday or Monday next week. The club that we played in booked us for five or more nights. Depends on the crowd."

"Well, t-that's great, Oz. I'm really h-happy for you."

"Hey, are you really okay?" he noticed her jumpy voice.

"Yeah, sure, it's just..." she faltered, deciding whether to tell him about her little...incident(s) right now or not, "...it's just been kinda hectic in the last few days, that's all. Patrolling and things."

"Alright. Look, I gotta go. My cell's dying. See you next week."

"Right, okay," she said, not sure if he still heard her or not.

As she put down the phone she started to realize what had made her stay with Faith last night. At least she had had the feeling that Faith might care for her. Care. That was something this telephone call had lacked dramatically. No "I love you", no "I miss you", nothing, except for that "are you okay?" after her nervous stammering.

It was not that she blamed him for all of this. He was not one to express his feelings and thoughts that often and open. Some people might conceive him as cold, emotionless, but she knew better than this. He cared for her, more than he could express with words or things he did.

But still she would love to hear those words some time, those sweet words of interest. Faith had said those last night. Well, not exactly "I love you" and things like that, she had a more...intense way of expressing herself. _Let's not get into detail here_, Willow thought and blushed.

_I just hope I can catch her tomorrow and talk to her._

* * *

Tomorrow came sooner than expected. Willow got up extra early so that she could talk to Faith before the Scoobie meeting. She sat in the library, all alone, not even Giles or Wesley were there yet. Surprisingly Xander was the first to arrive, though you could see that he's not really awake yet.

Willow was rather thankful for this. At least this way she could avoid any talks about weekend activities and suspicious stammering while thinking of a convincing lie.

The redhead pretended to read something and her best friend – who sat down opposite from her – almost nodded off with his chin cradled in his palms.

The watchers entered the library about ten minutes after Xander. Giles and Wesley were talking animatedly among themselves and almost missed the two teenagers sitting at the big wooden table.

"Ah, Willow, Xander, excellent. I didn't expect to see you two quite so early," the remark was mainly directed at Xander who normally showed up late for Scoobie meetings.

"Hi, Giles. Wesley," Willow greeted them both and Xander accompanied her with an acknowledging grunt.

"Hello," Wesley replied haltingly. He still has problems with the fact that Faith and especially Buffy had such a close contact with 'civilians' and that said people knew all about the goings-on in the demon world.

Willow realized that her brilliant plan of catching Faith before the actual meeting had failed. With most of the others already present she wouldn't find a possibility to talk to her alone without drawing any suspicion towards them.

The door opened again and Buffy comes in, closely followed by Faith. Buffy greeted them all and Faith waved a hand in the general direction of the foursome near by the table, but to no one in particular. Certainly not to a little redheaded bundle of nerves that was busy trying to get in eye-contact with Faith without anyone else noticing it.

She failed. More precisely, Faith simply seemed to ignore her as she walked to the table and plopped down in the chair next to Xander. The boy was far too tired to be realizing who just sat down beside him. Buffy sat down next to Willow, opposite from Faith.

"Good, now we're all here," Giles started and got interrupted by Willow.

"Wait, isn't Cordelia coming, too?" she didn't really care if Cordelia was coming or not, she just wanted to buy some time, maybe, to find a way to talk to Faith.

Faith looked up at Willow's question and immediately averted her eyes and when she saw the redhead looking at her.

Willow felt hurt.

"I couldn't reach her yesterday," Buffy explained. "We'll fill her in on the details later."

"Right, let's proceed," Giles continued and explained to Willow, Faith and Xander what he, Wesley and Buffy had found out when they were talking to Finch yesterday.  
He explained about the upcoming Ascension, that the Mayor was practically impervious to harm and that he had Sunnydale built over a hundred years ago so that the demons would always have enough food, keep them in his good graces.

They learned that the ritual, which made him impervious to harm, had taken place not three hours after Buffy, Willow and Faith had met Finch in the alley. Now someone might think that it would have been better to rush into City Hall and stop the Mayor before could complete his ritual. But he wasn't stupid – Finch had told Buffy that several dozen vampires, armed to the teeth, were guarding City Hall at that very moment, making sure that the ritual could be completed undisturbed. Even two slayers at full strength would have been no match for them.

Richard Wilkins III wasn't the Mayor of Sunnydale for nothing.

The Scoobies took this and all the smaller details in with a sense of wonder and trepidation.  
They also got to know that Finch would be working as a sort of secret-agent for them from now on, delivering information whenever he found out something new.

At one point a very busy Cordelia (speaking of...) interrupted them, asking Giles for a copy of Freud and Jung for her psychology class.

She said hello to Wesley, almost burning him with her brilliant smile and intense stare.

When he found out that Cordelia was still a student, he released the hand he was shaking for what felt like ten minutes or longer with an embarrassed, "Well, uh...". Buffy couldn't suppress a light giggle.

He was very befuddled about Cordelia's flirtatious behavior, and finally told her that he was "here to watch...girls," which evoked a little grin from Faith, "...uh...Buffy and Faith, to be specific." Some of the parties seated around the table raised their eyebrows; Wesley obviously didn't realize that this addition didn't make his explanation sound any less kinky.

"My. She's cheeky, isn't she?" he exclaimed as Cordelia finally exited the library.

"Uh, first word 'jail', second word 'bait'," Faith teased him despite herself.

"Well, uh, where were we?" Wesley asked obviously flustered.

Buffy looked at her watch. "Hopefully done. Class starts in five minutes."

And all of a sudden Faith looked panicked, all cockiness was gone. Looking around, she was definitely looking for the fastest way out. She knew Willow was most likely looking for a one-on-one…bad phrasing…

But she couldn't do this. Confront Willow. She was still…her. And her most inner self was cowardly as one possibly can be. _Hard to believe, huh?_ Running and avoiding – that's what she was good at. She had run from and avoided a lot of things already. And this? Maybe she hadn't had a prophetic dream…but it seemed to serve her well as an excuse. Because truth be told - it scared her. Not only that something bad might happen if she and Willow…Perhaps the prospect of experiencing something good scared her even more.

Giles closed the meeting and before Willow could even do something about it, Faith made a hasty exit, mumbling something about "thing I gotta do".

Buffy grabbed Xander by his arm and half dragged him out of the library to their first class of the day. "Will, you coming?" she shouted over her shoulder to Willow who was still sitting at the table staring apathetically at the chair that had been occupied by Faith just a minute ago.

* * *

The week passed by. Willow often happened to run into Faith. As long as some of the others are there with him, Faith stayed, although she never spoke to Willow directly. Faith deliberately avoided one-on-one situation, claiming she has somewhere important to be and things like that.

Faith was an expert in making herself scarce if she wanted to, needed to.

Willow was not an expert in keeping her emotions under control.

She was getting more and more desperate. She sobbed herself into sleep every night, sometimes she even slipped out of class or Scoobie meetings and ran to the restrooms to cry.

She didn't really participate in class; conversations with her friends became more or less monosyllabic. She drew a lot of worried attention to her but nobody asked her about her behavior.

Faith continued her life as usual: slaying, maybe going to a club here and now to dance, just not to the Bronze, 'cuz she_ might _run into Willow there…though she felt that the redhead probably didn't feel like partying.

The slayer herself didn't either, but for her it was one way to stop thinking, at least for a while. The other way…well, she brought someone home with her twice. But it hadn't satisfied her, not physically, not mentally. She felt cold inside. She doubted more and more that dumping Willow and ignoring her like this had been the right decision.

But she had to fight to stay strong, to not to give into her feelings and let Willow come close again. _For Willow's own sake._

* * *

Thursday night rolled around and Faith was lying on her stomach on the bed, absent-mindedly watching TV, some black-and-white movie that she didn't know the name of and didn't really care about. Her legs were dangling lazily in the air. She thought about going to a club again.

There was a knock on the door. Faith rolled around in that unique way that only Faith inhabited, got up and walked to open the door.

Willow stood outside, distressed for obvious reasons. She had come to Faith's apartment every night, hoping to catch Faith. But Faith had never been here then. Until today.

"What?" Faith asked in an even voice, trying to not let emotions of any kind show.

"I...um..." Willow faltered. She felt cold, uncomfortable under Faith's trying-to-be-convincingly-uninterested stare, "I just wanted to..." her fingered were entwined, twitching. Suddenly she didn't know what exactly she wanted there. "H-How are you?"

The slayer shrugged. "Never better," she lied and they both knew it. "Five by Five, you know?" she trademarked. "Why?"

Willow sighed. If she was going to have this conversation with Faith, it definitely shouldn't be in passing. "Can I come in?"

Faith hesitated for a minute…before she realized that this dreaded confrontation had to happen at some point. "Yeah," the brunette replied and it was barely more than a whisper. She stepped aside to let the other girl enter.

Faith turned off the TV and faced the redhead who was still hovering near the door, unsure of what to do now that she was back in Faith's motel room. The room she had spent some of the happiest hours of her life, but also some of the loneliest.

And even now that Faith was here she couldn't shake that atmosphere of coldness that lived in the room, as if someone had sucked all life out of it.

Willow noticed Faith's outfit. Leather boots, skin-tight black leather pants, a largely transparent, long-sleeved shirt in the same color that only really covered her chest area. She had done her hair up, only a few strands were framing her face. Dark but not too heavy make-up completed her apparel.

_Dressed to kill_, was the first association that sprung to Willow's mind.

Pressed silence filled the room; none of them really knew what to say and how.

Faith had crossed her arms over her chest and desperately tried to avoid any eye contact with Willow, afraid of what she might see in those big green orbs. Desperation, love, hope, pain. Faith knew she wouldn't be able to control herself if she looked at her. She'd either grab her and kiss her senseless just to make any pain that Willow might feel go away, or she'd lash out, angry and frustrated, causing Willow some real pain - physically.

_Which brings us back to hurt._ The thing Faith was desperately trying to avoid, but was apparently failing poorly.

Willow was still standing by the door, leaving about five meters room between her and the younger girl, who had backed away almost to the other end of the room. The redhead had wrapped her arms around herself, shielding herself from the coldness of the room. She dragged in a long breath of air and let it leave her lungs in a soft and slow sigh.. She was mentally preparing herself for the conversation to come.

"Faith...," she started, still unsure of what she was going to say. She faltered.

"Look, Will, I know what you wanna say." Faith took advantage of Willow's hesitation. "And I'm sorry if it meant more for you. But it was just a one-time deal." She closed her eyes and shook her head at her own lie. "Nothing more to it."

"Two times...," Willow said softly, so softly that no ordinary human being would have heard it. But Faith had.

"Hm?" she still asked, her own body willing her to really look at Willow for the first time since she had entered her room. She took in the light brown coat that covered a faded blue jeans and a green turtleneck pullover.

And then she saw it, them – her eyes, glistening with unshed tears, lips that were pressed together tightly. Willow was obviously trying to be strong. She didn't want to break down crying in front of Faith and make this situation even more uncomfortable.

"Two times," Willow willed herself to keep her voice from shaking. "It was two times, and you can't tell me that it didn't mean anything to you."

"It didn't. Y-you're reading far too much into this," Faith was surprised at her own stammer, covered it by looking at a suddenly very interesting spot on the far wall.

"You wouldn't have asked me if I wanted to do this, if you really didn't care," her voice started shaking, she couldn't stop it in time. "You wouldn't have given me the stakes, the holy water and the cross and..."

"I just wanted to keep you save!" Faith blurted out the plausible explanation for her behavior. And it was true. The last thing that she wanted was putting Willow in danger. After all, that is why she had made this decision for both of them in the first place.

"And what about that mocha?" Willow whipped out the joker, the thing that Faith couldn't shrug off with a simple explanation. "Huh? In the middle of the night you – injured and probably hurting – you went to a coffee place to buy me a mocha. You wouldn't have done it if you really didn't care about me."

_God, at least the Xan-Man wasn't that whiny_, Faith stopped herself from saying this out loud, _No need to cause problems between those two.  
_  
"I...ugh..." Faith groaned. Willow had backed her into a dead end. She couldn't get out of this situation without paving right over Willow's feelings. She was going to have to hurt her.

She was suppressing the urge to hit something, because usually that was what she did when she was threatened or cornered, she lashed out, mostly beating up her counterpart in the process. In this case words would have to do.

"Will, I...uh...it really doesn't matter you think this was. If everyone I've ever slept with came crawling back later pleading for more...I can't even count how many people would be standing there beside you right now."

_Oh, that's great, make yourself look like the über-slut! Yeah, makes you wonder why Willow was ever interested in you, or still is. She should be disgusted by this._

"When I'm horny I'll take everything that's convenient, you know. And that's what you were – a convenience..."

Faith stared at Willow, marveling at the fact that the redhead was still standing there and that the tears hadn't come yet.  
_  
Even I would have run off crying if someone called me a 'convenience'._

Willow took it in. Not believing her ears…but somehow still knowing that what she just heard was true. And she had a feeling that she knew exactly what Faith was planning. The other tried to look it, but she didn't really sound as if she really meant what she was saying.

What she didn't know was if she could handle Faith openly telling her that it was over.

"You know the drill. I see, I want, I take," she demonstrated it with her fingers, counting one-two-three. She added a fourth finger. "I forget. Understand?"

And now they did come, the long-awaited and equally feared tears. Willow had reached her limit of handling the situation. She pawed at her tears with her right hand. One more nudge from Faith and this would be over, Willow would be running and they both knew it.

"Now, go screw your little werewolf. At least now you have an idea how it works," Faith said this without looking at Willow. "I'm done with you."

Willow was glad that she hadn't taken off her coat when she had come in because she didn't want to stay in this room any longer than necessary. "Well, at least you wanted me," she got out between sobs as she opened the door and started running.

Faith let out a ragged sigh. Now that Willow was gone she had no need to hold back her own tears.

She hadn't quite wanted it to be like this. She actually had wanted to reason with Willow, but this – this was just awful. She at least wanted to maintain that friendship that was forming between them, back then before it became intimate. She had just been naive to think so. Now Willow would probably never wanna speak to her again. _Can't really blame her._

She walked to the door to close it. And only now she noticed it – it must have escaped her notice before – it was dark out. Not even stars or the moon illuminated the night.

„Shit!" Faith cursed and slammed her fist against the wall. Hard enough to let any pictures drop from the wall – if there had been any pictures on her wall to begin with...

She slid down the wall. If Willow got hurt now_...or killed..._it would be her fault for all eternity. She wanted to run after her, but her body wouldn't let her. She sat there, as if glued to the ground. She was exhausted – emotionally – and let her tears run free, not caring if anyone, who might just happen to walk past the still open door, saw her like this.

_to be continued..._

* * *

A/N: Okay, who wants to kill me now...? But look on the bright side, it can't get _much_ worse... Hm...on second thought...


	9. Too Late to Apologize?

**Title: **Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author:** lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing:** A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. Thank you all for these characters! Parts of the story line and dialogue taken from the episode "Doppelgängland". No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the because of...what do you call this again...oh, right, "life"! ;)  
**Thanks to:** My lovely betas Wil-Lehane- and K  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers).

* * *

CHAPTER NINE -- TOO LATE TO APOLOGIZE?

One day had passed since Willow had fled from Faith's motel room and into the dark night.

Faith had sat fixed to the ground – for how long she couldn't say. And she didn't care. She had sat until she had run out of tears.

And with the last bit of strength she could muster, she had dragged herself up, finally closed the door to the outside world and trudged over to the big, uncomfortable and unbearably lonely motel bed.

The bed where she and Willow…

She had been so exhausted that sleep hadn't overcome her for a horrendously long time. And not sleeping unfortunately meant more time to think. Time to replay what had happened over and over in her head.

The thing that had happened just now, everything that had happened in the last five days, and what had happened…that night.

A big mistake, some minor mistakes that lead up to that big one, and one…no, two things that presented two of the few non-mistakes in her life. That much she had realized by now.

After finally finding sleep at some point in the morning, she woke up again in the early afternoon hours, as exhausted as she had been when she had crawled into bed.

She felt bad, still. Even worse than before.

She wanted…needed to apologize to Willow. Nothing justified the way she had treated her.  
God, the look on Willow's face…the mix between disbelief at Faith's words and hurt because of these words…she'd remember it for the rest of her life.

But there was something she had done that was worse than these words. Rather something she had not done.

She had let her run out in the middle of the night. Had not stopped her, and not told her that…

She knew very well what B would do to her if something happened to Willow and she ever found out that it was Faith's fault. _No...You'd probably beat her to it. Some self-inflicted ass-kicking, coming up!_

Faith sat up and reached for the watch resting on top of the shelf over the bed. Quarter to four. Willow's classes were over for today. Faith had hung around the school often enough to know the Scoobies' timetables by heart.

Maybe she's home already, Faith hoped and reached for the phone, only to remember…_I don't have her number. Dammit! I got B's, Giles', even Wesley's, but not hers. I don't even know where she lives, for God's sake!_

Frustrated she put her head in her hands. _Think, stupid, think! Where can you find her without having to call one of the others first? The library? Maybe she's helping Giles, or studying…Or the Bronze...although I doubt that she feels much like partying after last night...The Espresso Pump!  
_  
It wasn't much, but she hoped she could find Willow in one of these places. Hoped that Willow wouldn't be at home – though that would be the safest place for her, as far as Faith was concerned.

She showered quickly and put her clothes on – simple black jeans, a white tank top and a black denim jacket. Anything leather-y or more provocative seemed seriously inappropriate on a night like this.

Working up courage, convincing herself that she could do this, that she could tell Willow that she was sorry and that…

She exited her room before she got a chance to change her mind.

* * *

The library – strike one. The place was abandoned. Not even Giles or Wesley was there… If Willow had been there, she would have been happy about the watchers being gone. But this way…she didn't even have the chance of asking them where Willow might be right now.

Not that she was inclined to do so. Because that might lead to questions about why she wanted to know. And she wasn't willing to answer those right now.

If she was, she would have gone to Buffy's house and had risked the deserved ass-kicking.

The Espresso Pump – strike two. No Willow there either. She even asked the staff if Willow had been here today, 'the little redhead with the Mocha-quirk'. The answer was no.

It was evening by now and she had only one last hope – the Bronze. Even though it was an unlikely whereabout for a broken-hearted girl.

When she entered she immediately saw that something was off. A group of guys was gawking at a twosome that seemed to be arguing near the billiard table. A dark-haired sporty-looking guy and a redheaded girl in a very daring leather outfit.

The guy tried to punch the girl, but she blocked him. He clutched her neck with his other hand and tried to choke her.

Faith rushed at them, her actual mission – finding and apologizing Willow – temporarily forgotten. She needed to save this girl first. This girl that so shouldn't we wearing these clothes – she should have known this would only get her in trouble.

To Faith it clearly looked as if Sporty was threatening Leather Girl. She didn't see how the redhead was beginning to choke the guy and was gaining the upper hand easily.

She yanked the guy off of the other girl and threw him to the floor.

"Back off! You stay the hell away from her!" she growled at him and recognized him as a student from Sunnydale High. He recognized her as well – the chick that hung out with Buffy and her guys in the school cafeteria or the library, even though she didn't even go there.

"Okay! Sure!" he stammered panicked and scrambled away.

Faith turned to make sure the girl was okay, and only now she realized who exactly was standing in front of her.

Willow – in a leather outfit. A leather outfit that so wasn't her. A leather outfit that would even make her blush, wearing it. Leather was cool, but this…was just a little much.

"Willow?" she asked unbelievingly.

The redhead's face brightened. "Do I know you?" she asked smugly as she circled the slayer slowly, eyeing her. Apparently the looks of Faith were to her liking.

"W-Willow, what are we playing here?" Faith replied majorly confused and concerned, asking herself if their fight – more precisely her crushing Willow's feelings – yesterday had driven the redhead to this outfit...and this behavior...

The other girl let the fingertips of her right hand glide over the slayer's body, in a way that would give the brunette some 'good down-low tickle', usually. But not tonight.

Willow shouldn't be doing this. Not here. And not in this outfit. It simply wasn't like her.

When the redhead's fingers made contact with her butt and even made a move to pinch it, Faith grabbed her leather-clad wrists and yanked her hands away from her own body. "Willow, stop! Why are you being like this?"

Confronted with this rejection, the redhead pouted coyly.

"Is this because of what I did yesterday?" Faith asked concerned and the other girl just frowned at this slightly, not comprehending. Faith sighed, "Look...," she started, never letting go of Willow's wrists and the redhead didn't seem to mind, "I'm sorry. F-For what I said yesterday…and what I did…before. And I can't even tell you how much. I should never have treated you this way...I-I know you probably won't believe me, but I didn't mean what I said…". She sighed, "Can you maybe give me another…"

Faith broke off when she saw Xander approaching. She quickly released Willow's wrists.

The redhead turned her head to see what Faith was looking at. "Xander!" she exclaimed thrilled.

The boy acknowledged them both with a nod of his head, though his eyes are mainly focused on Willow's unusual outfit. He faced Faith briefly with raised eyebrows, but she just shrugged and shook her head.

"Will, changing the look not an idle threat with you," he remarked, finding his voice again.

His words wandered through Faith's mind, leaving her with the conclusion that this make-over maybe hadn't been her fault. Well, at least not _only her _fault. Or was it?

"You're alive," Willow realized with a satisfied smile, which confused the other two even more.

Looking at both of the "brunettes" alternately, an idea seemed to form inside the redhead's head. An idea, whose G-ratedness could easily be questioned, as both Faith and Xander discerned, when they followed her gaze and barely managed to keep from blushing when they caught the other brunette noticing their respective gaze.

But it was not their shared past, which troubled them in this respect and made them feel awkward – though one party might agree and the other began to feel it too, the longer she thought about it, especially bearing in mind recent developments. What bothered them was Willow doing this – this sizing them as if they were prey basically.

Well, 'prey' in Faith's case. With Xander…there seemed to be something else going on between the redhead and him.

Though he didn't seem to be too aware of that as his startled reaction showed, when she approached and put her arm around his waist in a not-too-best-friendly way, nuzzling her head against his shoulder.

Xander seemed as dumbfounded as Faith. But whereas Xander felt pure shock at Willow's behavior and at the all too inquisitive hand moving up and down his back, Faith felt hurt.

Was Willow doing this on purpose? Did she choose Xander to be her rebound guy?

The hurt faded some and was replaced by bewilderment, when Willow, still snuggled up against Xander, turned towards her again, with hunger shining in her eyes.

"I've got an idea," she whispered, only loud enough for Xander – and Faith with her enhanced slayer hearing – to hear. The other hand came up to Xander's chest affectionately, as she looked Faith all over – yet again.

"A-And what's that?" Xander stammered, feeling more uncomfortable with each passing second.

About to answer, the redhead moved her hand higher on Xander's chest and frowned when she felt something…thumping. "You're alive…." With a weirded-out, disgusted look, she yanked her hand and the rest of her body away from him.

"You mentioned that before," he said slowly, startled by her last reaction.

Faith approached the confused-looking girl slowly, carefully contemplating her move. "Willow, are you okay?" she asked worriedly, stopping short of putting a hand on Willow's arm.

"No. Everything's different," this one confessed and looked at her helplessly.

_ I'm so sorry…_, Faith had to fight to keep her emotions at bay. She wanted to take Willow into her arms and comfort her. And tell her again that she was sorry for what she had done. She wouldn't even mind Xander being there while doing so. But then…

"Oh. There you are," Buffy approached them and Faith cringed. There was the blonde that Faith had been afraid of meeting and whose ass-kicking she deserved. "Hey, Faith," she greeted and there was no malevolence in her look.

Only partly relieved, Faith nodded.

"Hey, Buff," Xander uttered, never taking his eyes off Willow and her outfit.

The little slayer looked at Willow casually, addressing Xander and Faith. "Aren't you two gonna introduce me to your...," she recognized her, "Holy _God,_ you're Willow…"

The friendly expression on the redhead's face disappeared, her eyes turned cold. "You..."

Faith noticed this and got an idea, who might be responsible for this…Willow. Apart from her… _B?_

After seconds of hesitation, Buffy started. "You know what? I, I like the look," she stammered supportingly. "It's, um... it's, it's extreme, but it, it, it looks good, you know, it's a...," short deep inhale of air and confused look towards Faith who was unusually leather-free, "leather thing, and, uh...," she faced Xander, "I said 'extreme' already, right?"

Willow obviously did not like the fact that Xander and her new dark-haired flirt knew the blonde slayer, seemed to be friends with her even. She stepped up to Buffy. "I don't like you."

Not only Buffy was taken aback by this. "Will, I'm sorry about what I said. You know how my foot likes to live in my mouth. But you know... y-you really didn't have to prove anything."

"Why? What happened?" Faith demanded.

Whatever happened…from Willow's reaction, Faith knew it had to be bad. Worse than what she had done even. She didn't even think that this was possible.

But did this mean that Willow had been at school today? That her fears of having let Willow ran off in the middle of the night and having put her in danger had been ill-founded?

Willow didn't give her the time to think about it.

The redhead glared at them all in disgust. She wanted to get away from Buffy and her friends. "Leaving now," she turned to do just that.

"Willow, wait," Faith shouted.

"Gotta say, not lovin' the new you," Xander chimed in.

Buffy was the one who went after her. "Will, stop..." She grasped Willow's arm from behind and turned her around. She couldn't believe the sight she was confronted with next.

"Get off me!" Willow – with the all too familiar grimace of a vampire, distorted features, bared fangs – roared.

Willow shook the slayer off and stalked away, leaving Buffy, Faith and Xander standing there in complete shock and dawning horror.

_to be continued..._


	10. Double Trouble

**Title: **Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author:** lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing:** A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. Thank you all for these characters! Parts of the story line and dialogue taken from the episode "Doppelgängland". No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the because of...what do you call this again...oh, right, "life"! ;)  
**Thanks to:** My lovely betas Wil-Lehane- and K  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers).

**A/N: Still amazed at the amount of reviews I'm getting for this story. A big thanks to anyone who has reviewed so far (or in any other way has come to like this story)! Love you guys ;)**

* * *

CHAPTER TEN -- DOUBLE TROUBLE

Faith felt as if she was suffocating. Her fears had been justified. Her worst nightmare had become true.

Willow had been killed and she was responsible for it.

No, it hadn't been Buffy, she was sure of this. It was her fault alone.

She had tried to steer Willow away from her to prevent exactly this…and now it had happened.

She had noticed that something was seriously off with Willow, but at this moment had not thought about the possibility that her redhead might be "undead". Seeing Willow alive – even though behaving weirdly – had calmed her inner turmoil somewhat, she had been relieved that the wicca still lived.

The look into Willow's vampire visage made her feel sick; a lump formed in her throat, making it almost impossible to breathe.

"No," it was barely more than a whisper.

Buffy, whose slayer hearing detected it, turned her way, pain and desperation marked her features – matching Faith's.

"What have I done?" the dark slayer asked horrified.

She couldn't stand to be around the remains of the Scoobies any longer, couldn't stand seeing the pain in her eyes and knowing that her behavior was the reason for it.

She took off, pushing people out of her way in her desperate escape from the Bronze.

"Faith?" Xander shouted after her. His voice was shaky.

By the time Faith reached the exit, her tears had started to flow. She didn't care to wipe them off. She just needed to get away.

* * *

Willow made her way to the Sunnydale High library. She really didn't know how she had survived this day.

After that disaster with Faith one day ago – _We both know she was lying when she said that she didn't care_ – she had simply wanted to get through this school day, make it to the weekend. The weekend, on which she would…she didn't even know why she was looking forward to it…

She had thought about playing hookie for a few seconds, but decided that this wouldn't help her any. She would only have more to think about it all. Plus the others would wonder what happened to her and she wasn't in the mood to explain these things to them.

Ten minutes after she had arrived at school, however, she had regretted her decision to show up. Snyder wanted to see her in his office during her first break. This was never a good sign; she just wondered what plan the annoying little man had cooked up this time. Of course it was a tutoring job...again. The tutoree this time – Percy West: Sunnydale High jock, basketball star...and arrogant and uncooperative as hell.

She would have loved to put a spell on him, turning him into a little ringworm or something like that...if she had that kind of power. She wasn't even able to turn poor Amy back into a human being. Plus, Percy disappearing shortly after Willow Rosenberg reluctantly takes on a tutoring job for him might arouse suspicions – especially after that Hansel and Gretel incident. Snyder still knew about her dealing with witchcraft, but probably ignored it just like her mother did.

Now she had even more work to do since Percy apparently expected her to write his paper for him. She would do this – rather than to have to deal with Snyder should Percy flunk history.

It was so weird that everybody expected her to be agreeing to just about everything. Everybody saw her as reliable. Snyder relied on her for tutoring just about anyone; Xander relied on her for taping "Biography" each Friday. _As if this guy doesn't have his own VCR…_

She was Old Reliable, Old Faithful, Old Yeller, Doormat Person, Homework Gal, whatever.

And then this girl had showed up. What's her name – Anya? Wanted to do a spell? Willow had been interested immediately. For the first time today being pegged as "reliable" didn't bother her. She had been intrigued. Conjuring a necklace from somewhere – not really interesting, but at least it was something.

Of course that spell had ended different than she had hoped. They hadn't conjured up Anya's family heirloom. Instead she had seen horrifying flashes of some demon girl that resembled Anya choking Giles, herself and Xander as vampires, the necklace in question, Buffy staking Xander, herself impaled on the broken wood of a cage, demon girl's necklace smashed, her vampire self falling to the floor, being grabbed by Larry, sitting alone in an empty factory, Oz coming for her, the Master grabbing Buffy.

After that she had refused to try this spell again and had gone home. This Anya girl freaked her out; there was definitely something off about her. She'd rather do Percy's homework than any more spells with her.

She had worked on the Roosevelt paper for about four hours, researching on her laptop and filtering out the most important facts, the essentials. She figured that she might even get this paper done tonight; she just needed to get some books from the library.

* * *

She was walking through the library doors and was surprised to see Giles, Buffy and Xander sitting on the steps that led to the stacks.

"What's going on?" she asked curiously. Normally they shouldn't be here on a Friday night. Well, Giles, maybe, but not Buffy and especially not Xander.

They all looked up in surprise and Xander lifted a cross he was holding slightly, as if he wanted to protect himself.

Willow noticed their sad faces and was amazed at the expressions. "Jeez, who died?"

No one replied.

She realized she may have gotten it right. Had her spell-induced vision not just shown her some freaky alternate universe? Or had this Anya-girl still tried another spell that went wrong? Or…oh, God, there were so many things that could have happened. Was it Cordelia? Wesley? Her breath caught in her throat. Joyce…? F-Faith…? _She didn't…do something to herself…did she?_ She panicked almost, "Oh, God! Who died?"

Xander jumped up and thrust his cross in her face, "Back! Get back, demon!"

She didn't cower from it, instead showed deep concern for him. Xander shook the cross, like you might shake a remote controller if it doesn't work properly, and put it back in her face. Buffy and Giles noticed that she was not frightened of the cross, and slowly approached.

"Willow, you're alive?" Buffy asked hopeful.

Willow was puzzled. What was going on here? "Aren't I usually?"

Without further hesitation, Buffy ran to her best friend and hugged her hard and close. "Oh!" She savored the warmth she found in the redhead's body – a warmth that definitely indicated that she wasn't hugging a vampire.

Willow was surprised and let out a little groan from the tightness of the embrace. An instant later, Xander was also hugging her with all his might.

"I love you guys, too," Willow uttered, wondering what had gotten into her friends. The hug eventually got too intense for Willow. "Okay. Oxygen becoming an issue."

Buffy and Xander let go, smiling at her with tears in their eyes. She smiled back, but still didn't know what to make of it all. _Okay…smiling. Smiling is good. Means everything is okay…right?_

She turned to the watcher, thinking he might tell her something sensible. "Giles, what's going on with these...?"

Before she could finish her sentence, she found herself being warmly embraced again by the normally reserved Watcher.

"Oh! No..." Again she groaned from the tightness of the hug, and Giles quickly released her, a bit embarrassed at his emotional display.

"Oh. Sorry," the man backed away. Willow looked at him with a perplexed expression.

"It's…really nice that you guys missed me...Say, you all didn't happen to do a bunch of drugs, did ya?" she asked with raised eyebrows, semi-serious. Up one minute, down the next…or the other way around. For all she was concerned, her theory wasn't even that illogical.

"Will, we saw you at the Bronze. A vampire," Xander explained.

"I'm not a vampire," Willow seemed almost insulted. Though on second thought, this assumption explained her friends' behavior.

"You are," Buffy went on and got a look from Willow. "I-I mean, y-you, you were."  
The blonde turned her confused frown towards Giles. "Giles, planning on jumping in with an explanation any time soon?"

"Well, uh... something...," the watcher was unsure about what to say, "something, um, very strange is happening," he stated, mildly, helplessly gesticulating with his arms.

"Can you believe the Watcher's Council let this guy go?" Xander mocked.

* * *

Faith finally came to a halt. Shady Hill cemetery. She didn't know how long she had run. Shady Hill wasn't far away from the Bronze, but she had run in circles, not caring where she ran and who she might run into. But she wasn't surprised to end up here.

She knew that Buffy could have followed her easily, but Faith knew very well that she hadn't.

Buffy and Xander had been glued to the ground in terror of what they had seen. The demon that had taken over their beloved Willow's body.

Faith stood stock still. There was no sound except for her own ragged breathing and the rustling of the leaves on the trees. It was a calm night, but anyone that might by walk by her would notice that Faith was anything but calm. Mortified, desperate, angry – all perfect adjectives to describe her current state.

_Oh, God, Willow, I'm so sorry. I'm so..._

She looked up at the clouded sky. Her tears had stopped, at least for now. She stared up.

The last 24 hours. The conversation that had went so terribly wrong. She knew that this would haunt her for the rest of her life.

She had never believed in things like God and heaven, but she felt that Willow's soul was still here – probably above.

_I wish I could rewind the day and hand it back. I would do everything differently. I would show you how much you mean to me._

She waited for the response that she felt would never come.

She realized very well where exactly she was. In a cemetery, surrounded by graves with names that had no meaning to her. But behind them one could find so many different fates, and so many different people left behind, grieving for a beloved friend, spouse, child, parent.

When it hit her that Willow's loved ones wouldn't even have a grave of hers to visit and mourn at, to keep her memory, she felt even worse than before – which she didn't think was possible.

* * *

Buffy and Xander explained to Willow the details of what they had seen in the Bronze, leaving out that Faith had been there also. Willow was surprised at her vampire double's dominatrix-like appearance, all clad in leather and red lace. She would never even think about wearing something like this.

Then Angel came rushing in, explaining to Buffy, Xander and Giles that Willow was dead. After saying a casual 'hi' to Willow he finally got why the others hadn't freaked when he had told them about her death.

He informed them about a cadre of vampires that had invaded the Bronze and saw Vamp Willow as their leader. They decided to stop the vampires right now, hoping that they were still in the holding patterns.

But Willow didn't want them to kill her vampire double. She told the others to go ahead and walked back into the library to retrieve the tranquilizer gun.

She went to the checkout counter and leaned over, but can't reach the gun. She started around it, but an arm reached around from behind and grabbed her. A cold hand clamped over her mouth to prevent her from screaming.

Her own voice said, "Alone at last."

_to be continued..._

* * *

**  
A/N: So, who noticed the little Tru Calling quote in there? Btw, disclaimer: I don't own Tru Calling either ;)**

**Sorry for the shortitude of this chapter, but****, hey, important things still happened**


	11. Foiled Plans

**Title: **Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author:** lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing:** A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. Thank you all for these characters! Parts of the story line and dialogue taken from the episode "Doppelgängland". No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the because of...what do you call this again...oh, right, "life"! ;)  
**Thanks to:** My lovely betas Wil-Lehane- and K  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers).

* * *

CHAPTER ELEVEN -- FOILED PLANS

Evil leather-clad Willow turned Willow around and looked her up and down, particularly noticing her pink sweater.

"Well, look at me," the evil one said doubtfully, "I'm all fuzzy…"

Willow was stunned when she saw herself in the skin-tight leather outfit, black corset and pants, the corset was edged with red cloth at the wrists and..._whoops, cleavage !?_

Befuddled at the sight and at the vampire in general, "What do I want with you?" she caught herself, "Uh..."

Evil Willow replied grimly. "Your little school friend Anya said that you're the one that brought me here. She said that you could get me back to my world," and pouted a little.

"Oh..." Willow finally got what had gone wrong with her and Anya's spell earlier today. "Oh! Oops!" she flinched.

"But I don't know...," Evil Willow smirked wickedly, "I kinda like the idea of the two of us." She turned Willow around again, caressing her shoulders. "We could be quite a team, if you came around to my way of thinking."

_My way of thinking...uh, her way of thinking? What's that supposed to mean? Oh...what is she doing with her hands… there...?_

"Would that mean we have to snuggle?" Willow asked uncertainly as she felt one of her counterpart's hands glide to her lower back while the other brushed some hair away from her neck.

_Whoa, this is just...wrong. Me hitting on...me. Me feeling me up. Now, if I would be alone with me...in the not two-of-me sense...no, brain, don't go there right now..._

"What do you say?" the evil one coaxed her. She gave Willow's neck an eager, lengthy lick.

_Ugh, yikes!...Okay, at least now I know where I got that neck-licking/nibbling from...Hope she doesn't go for my earlobe next... I gotta stop her! _

"Wanna be bad?" Vamp Willow asked enticingly.

"This just can't get more disturbing," Willow uttered mostly to herself.

Evil Willow growled with desire and bared her teeth behind Willow's neck. Willow freaked out and whirled around, stepping back and away from her.

"Ack! Ew!" she flailed her hands in disgust. "No more! You're really starting to freak me out!"

She tried to go around Evil Willow, call the others back here, but the vampire blocked her. Willow snatched Xander's cross from the counter and nervously waved it in Evil Willow's face, who roared and batted her arm away, sending the cross flying. _Whoa…bad move…_

Vamp Willow grabbed Willow and threw her up and over the counter. Willow landed with a crash, hitting her head hard against the metal filing cabinet. "Ow!" she hissed.

Evil Willow stalked around the counter. "You don't wanna play; I guess I can't force you."

Willow quickly reached under the counter for the tranquilizer gun she had come here for originally.

"Oh, wait," Vamp Willow smiled evilly, "I can."

Willow hectically aimed and fired. The dart hit Evil Willow in her stomach. Stunned, the vampire looked down at the protruding dart, staggered and started to fall. "Bitch...," she moaned and hit the floor.

Willow stared at her other fallen self and slowly got up to check if the vampire was really out of it. She tickled a spot that is extremely ticklish on her own body, figuring the other girl had to be ticklish there as well.

When she got no response she moved over to the phone and quickly typed in the number of Buffy's pager, hoping that the slayer had it with her.

Less than one minute later, the blonde burst through the library doors. "What is it?"

Willow just pointed over to her other self lying behind the counter. Buffy stared on dumbfounded, for the first time having the direct comparison of fuzzy-clad, can't-harm-a-fly Willow and naughtily-leather-clad Willow, the dreaded vampire. Except for sharing the "same" body, those two had absolutely nothing in common – this was very clear to her.

* * *

The others needed a bit longer to return to the library. But when they did, the first thing they did was accompanying Buffy in her staring-session.

When the majority of them were done doing so, Angel and Xander dragged Evil Willow by the arms into the book cage.

Giles, however, "It's extraordinary," he mentioned stunned, barely able to take his eyes of the vampire, for purely watcher-y reasons.

"It's horrible!" Willow replied appalled. "That's me as a vampire?!" Angel closed the door to the book cage. "I'm so evil and... skanky...And I think I'm kinda gay," she muttered to no one in particular.

Memories of last weekend rushed through the brain. _Huh. At least something we have in common..._

Buffy tried to reassure her, "Willow, just remember, a vampire's personality has nothing to do with the person it was."

"Well, actually...," Angel started without thinking much about it and got a warning look from Buffy and a scared one from Willow, "That's a good point."

"But, you know, speaking of gay...," Buffy picked up the subject, "you should have seen Faith with your vampire double. I don't even think she realized how she looked at you. – well, before the part with the vampire thing. Well, underneath that confusion, it almost looked as if she has a crush on you." The blonde girl grinned at her silly thought.

"Maybe it was just your leather outfit," Xander chimed in.

"W-Wait, Faith was there?" Willow asked, wondering what the other girl had been doing at the Bronze. W_as she looking for me...? Or was she looking for someone she could drag back to her motel room to do...you-know-what?_ That last thought didn't sit particularly well with Willow.

"Yeah. She ran off when we found out you were...well, dead," Xander laughed nervously and relieved at the same time.

"She seemed horrified," Buffy became pensive, "as if she was responsible for this."

The following conversation was lost on Willow as she though about Faith...again. She wondered what the other girl was doing right now. _She must still think I'm dead. Nobody told her yet. I have to go to her, tell her what happened. Oh, God, I just hope she's not doing anything stupid._

* * *

Faith slammed the door to her motel room shut. She had run the few blocks from Shady Hill to the motel, anger at herself rising in her.

The slayer hated herself for treating Willow the way she had. She hated herself for not running after Willow and making sure that she got home safe. But most of all she hated herself for not admitting how she felt about Willow.

She shrugged off her jacket and flung it on the bed. She needed to hit something, kick something. Something that wouldn't fight back. She wasn't in the mood for any resistance.

She walked over to her bedside table and kicked it, hard, hard enough to break the wood and make the lamp and telephone come crashing down to the floor. She crushed the telephone with her boot.

Faith remembered her punching bag, or more precisely the doorframe, covered with pillows that were fastened on it with duct tape.

She punched and punched for minutes, getting even more frustrated. She let out a gut-wrenching cry that would have made all undead in Sunnydale's cemeteries jump out of their graves at once.

She heard a hard knocking on the wall on her right.

"Take it down a notch!" her 'neighbor' shouted. "Some of us are trying to..."

"Fuck off!! Before I come over there and lend you a hand!" she yelled back.

Silence.

She continued.

It barely registered on her mind when she started clawing on the pillows, tearing them apart. Just like the guilt-drenched feelings were tearing at her own heart at the same time.

* * *

Explaining to Faith had to wait a little bit longer. Buffy had tried to call – because Willow insisted on it, but the line was dead.

Other than that, the blonde had cooked up a plan on how to stop the cadre of vampires that were still at the Bronze, waiting for their boss to return. A "really bad idea", that was, actually.

The guys had gone off to the Bronze already, to keep an eye on things.

Buffy helped Willow… strip her vampire self from her leather outfit.

Strangely enough, Willow's initial feeling was relief. _Oh, thank God; even as a vampire I still have the decency to wear underwear. Even if it's kinda kinky...I mean, the panties, my goodness! Would have been awkward if I...she...weren't wearing anything under it..._

Willow quickly discarded her own clothes and put on Evil Willow's skanky and very tight outfit. There were only minimal, almost non-detectable traces of her "hickey-disease" left, which she was thankful for. No explanation on her side needed.

After putting her own fluffy outfit on Vamp Willow, the redhead and the slayer followed the guys to the Bronze.

The group had agreed that Willow would take on Evil Willow's role. She would go into the club defuse the situation as best as possible.

Ignoring the guys' eyes – that seemed to be glued to her outfit, and her in her outfit, something for which she couldn't really blame them – she had entered the Bronze.

Defusing the situation….this of course was easier said than done. The humans and vampires inside seemed to believe that she was her evil self. Just that blonde girl, Anya – _what kind of demon is she supposed to be again? – _felt that something was off._  
_  
"If she's a vampire then I'm the creature from the black lagoon," the light-brown-haired woman had barked.

Before the situation got out of hand, Willow screamed – her ultimate weapon and agreed sign – and Buffy and Angel came running to the rescue. They took on the vampires while Giles and Xander helped the Bronzers escape through the front door.

Anya looked around at the chaos, and decided it was time to skedaddle. She met Willow on her way, though, who didn't fancy Anya getting away so easily. Anya and her stupid spell had brought some of the craziest moments ever upon their lives. Not to mention, had brought on hell. As if their life wasn't complicated enough.

With her and Oz…and her and Faith. Faith, who still thought she was dead, and who was MIA, doing god-knows-what.

Willow grunted as she punched Anya hard, sending her to the floor unconscious. Unfortunately, the punch really hurt her hand as well.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Happy, but ow!" she got out as Xander reached for her hand and dragged her to the empty stage and to a possible escape way.

But then Evil Willow popped up and blocked their way. How the hell had she found a way out of the book cage?

Easy. That brunette ditz, Cordelia, had showed up at the library, the one she thought she and Xander had killed already. Weird alternate universes...

And just when she had almost convinced the girl – who obviously had no idea who (or what) exactly she was – to let her out of the cage, the brunette had decided, she rather wanted to talk about something…what was it? Some stuff about "boyfriend-stealing".

The vampire had no idea what the other girl was talking about. No, she did. But Xander was her boyfriend, or at least he had been in the other – the real – universe. Had been for a very long time, though time doesn't really play a role in the life of a vampire. No way he was dating Cordelia in this reality…?

Besides…_this_ Xander and_ her_…how could this work, anyway? They were so clearly not-right for each other. And that not only was concerning their so very different clothing style.

But this Cordelia-girl still seemed to have loved him, loved him still, even. And she listened to Cordelia rant. For Devil-knows-how-long. Apparently this girl could talk on and on.

And she…she got bored…and hungry. She needed something to eat.

Actually she had wanted the redhead, the Willow of this reality. Despite the weird clothes…which unfortunately she wore now…she was a nummy treat. Could this be considered self-love? It didn't really matter. Apart from Willow there was also…Xander. She wanted _her_ Xander back. This Xander's heartbeat had almost scared her to…well, "death". This just wasn't right. The poor boy. She needed to do something about his state. And of course there was the other girl, the other brunette. Gorgeous thing. Okay, there was the weird and confusing…babbling…apologizing for what? But nonetheless there was something fascinating about this girl. She had enormous power – she had felt it. Yeah, they could make the ideal team. The four of them. Her, the other Willow, Xander and the brunette. A cool foursome.

The Fanged Four.

Perfect.

So many things the four of them could do. Hot, sexy things. Dangerous things. Fun things, like taking over this town. Making it the way it should be. And not even this blonde girl – this Buffy – could stop them.

But for this to happen, she had needed to get out of that cage. Cordelia would do for a snack – and then she would go looking for the others.

And finally she had had the girl so far to release her from her prison – just needed enough promises that she would never steal Xander again. Or maybe the brunette had just been done talking anyway.

And then the fun had begun…well, almost, anyway. She had chased the gullible girl down the school corridors, finally had her cornered in one of the restrooms. But some weird, stuffy guy had to step in between them and thrust a cross in her face. And showed her a little threatening bottle of holy water on top of that. Whatever. She hadn't been that willing to fight with him, just to get to Cordelia. Last time around the girl hadn't been that yummy, anyway.

So, she had gone to the Bronze, where her newly recruited vampire lackeys held some other nice people hostage. Enough to eat for everyone. And afterwards she could follow through with her plan.

But coming here, she had to realize that something had gone wrong…She had seen the blonde – killing her minions and saving the innocent. Fighting right at her side were that annoying librarian, poor Xander, the other Willow in _her_ outfit and…_her_ puppy?! Her puppy vampire, not covered in blisters and bruises, not chained to a wall in a cage, not whimpering in pain. No, now he was fighting on the side of her worst enemy.

She was enraged. What was wrong with this world?!

This was just too much. Seeing them all together – except for the brunette one – it was simply unacceptable. Even her plan didn't seem so alluring anymore. Would she really want to spend the rest of her life with people formerly associated with the blonde?

The answer – no. Rather kill them all. Started with the weakest.

The vampire grabbed Xander by his shirt and threw him off of the stage.

"No more snuggles?" Willow asked her other self frightened as she was approached by her.

Evil Willow backhanded her hard, causing her to fall backwards on the floor, hitting her head. The vampire stepped over Willow and grabbed her around the neck, choking her.

Oh, no, should she really go out like this? Choked to death by her own pissed-off vampire double? The vampire that was nothing like her, but still seemed to have things in common with her. And that didn't only mean…

Maybe it was the fluffy clothes that the vampire wore momentarily, but she could see a bit of herself in her. Nothing concerned with looks, but with the…_no, soul is the wrong word. _

There was something in the vampire…something that she never thought she could, but somehow had always wanted…to some extent. The self-confidence; the will and strength to stand up to people and not be the one treated like a matter of course, someone that simply functioned in the way everyone expected her to, just because it was simply the way it had always been.

The other Willow showed her that she could be different…part of her wanted to be just a little bit more like the other girl, barring that lacking a soul and killing humans bit, of course.

Unfortunately the vampire didn't seem to think of her in the same way. Or she simply had much more pressing…choking…matters going on in her brain. And that was why she put some more strength behind her grip.

Down by the pool tables, Buffy heard Willow's anxious cry. She staked the vampire with whom she had been fighting with a cue and ran to help Willow, smashing said cue into the back of a vampire's head along the way and breaking it, resulting in a sharp makeshift stake.

She ran up onto the stage and was about to shove the stake down hard with into Evil Willow's back, when Willow shouted out to stop her. "BUFFY, NO!" No, she couldn't let "herself" be staked right in front of her eyes.

Buffy reacted instantly, stopping just millimeters before the stake would make contact, and instead grabbed Evil Willow and yanked her roughly away from Willow, restraining her. Angel was finished with his fight also and hopped up onto the stage as well. Evil Willow realized that she was outnumbered. Willow stood up and massaged her neck.

"Nice reflexes," she said to Buffy.

The blonde shrugged, "Well, I work out."

Evil Willow pouted sadly. Great, even _that_ fun spoiled. She wanted to go home…, "This world's no fun," … where everything _was_ fun…barring pointy wooden things.

Willow was surprised by this. "You noticed that, too?" Of course she realized that their vision of an _ideal _world differed considerably. But both seemed to agree that this world wasn't necessarily it.

_to be continued..._


	12. It's never too late to make it right

**Title: **Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author:** lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing:** A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. Thank you all for these characters! Parts of the story line and dialogue taken from the episode "Doppelgängland". No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the because of...what do you call this again...oh, right, "life"! ;)  
**Thanks to:** My lovely betas Wil-Lehane- and K  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers).

**A/N: **Sorry for the couple hours of delay today. Had to change my internet password at the university library last week (we have to do this every six months)...and now I can't remember what I changed it to...hehe. Luckily I don't have these problems at home :P Anyway, enjoy ;)

* * *

CHAPTER TWELVE -- IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO MAKE IT RIGHT

Giles, Xander and Angel checked on Anya, just to make sure that she was still unconscious from Willow's punch. The redhead had decked her astonishingly good; not surprisingly, considering the anger she felt at this situation.

Meanwhile Buffy brought the two Willows to the club's bathroom so that they could change back into their own clothes.

She waited outside but gave the vampire a warning should she try anything stupid, underlining her threat by showing her the improvised stake that she was still holding.

While they changed clothes, Evil Willow couldn't suppress the urge to look at her mortal self every now and then.

Little narcissist. Just like Faith, Willow noticed. And concerning the brunette, she had a plan. Right after this was over...she would go to Faith's room - luckily she knew where the slayer lived - and check on her. Just to see if she was okay and tell her that she herself was okay, not dead. She didn't plan beyond that checking-phase. She knew that Faith didn't really mean what she had said last night, but she didn't know if Faith would admit it...even after what she had heard from the others about Faith's reaction upon seeing her today, before and after finding out about her "undead" state. She wanted to let Faith decide where they should go from here.

But first... "Would you stop ogling me!? That's really disturbing," Willow commented her as she reached for the fluffy sweater that her vampire self had just discarded seconds before.

"Hey, you're staring at me yourself. How could you have seen me looking otherwise?" Vamp Willow raised her eyebrows and Willow blushed.

"You caught me...," she mumbled. Was she a narcissist too? Or was this just normal behavior? It's not every day that you see _yourself_ standing in front of...well, you.

"No problem. We look good. There's no need to be hiding under...," Evil Willow pointed at Willow's innocent little girl outfit, fuzzy sweater, pink flower-y skirt, white tights, "...that."

"But you don't have to put it in into _that_ either," Willow retorted as she gave the vampire her leather-y bodice back.

"Some people might like it," Evil Willow continued. "You know, like the girl from the Bronze earlier. She seemed like someone who wouldn't mind a little bit of leather," the vampire shrugged.

"What girl?" Willow asked, although she had a feeling about which girl her other self was talking. Had to be...

"You know her. Big, brown eyes, brown hair, lips that are almost too kissable to resist. Plus that body...," the vampire made a grasping movement with her hands.

"You...you felt Faith up!?" Willow squealed, shocked at the bluntness of her counterpart.

"'Faith'! Right, that was her name," Evil Willow replied as she wriggled her way into her skin-tight outfit. "Well, no, I didn't...really. But I wanted to," she admitted. Maybe even still.

"Guess we have more in common than I thought," Willow muttered with a hint of sadness.

The vampire looked at her knowingly. "You know...I noticed something...," she approached the other redhead. "You smell like her..." She grinned seductively and looked Willow up and down in a slow moving stare. She carefully reached out to pull down the corner of Willow's sweater. She saw the faint hickey others without vampire vision would not see anymore. She took an unhurried sniff... "Hmm, was that your first time?" The eerie smile returned.

Willow stared at her in shock. _If she can smell it, then Angel can probably, too! God, I hope he doesn't' tell...no, he's a gentleman, he won't...I hope! But what if Oz can smell it, too? And Buffy? God, she's out there right now! I hope she doesn't eavesdrop in on this..._

"Don't worry. The others wouldn't notice it anymore. Even the pupp- the vampire. Her scent is too faint for that. Right now, they wouldn't notice anything, even if they concentrated really hard. I just caught it because it's...well, my body," the vampire reassured her.

"I-I hope you're right," Willow stammered.

"She seemed hurt when she saw that you were dead, or...you know what I mean. Even more hurt than Xander and...Buffy," she gave Willow a meaningful look. "I think she's in love with you."

Willow's face brightened somewhat, but was also confused about why Faith, in this case, would try so hard to convince her otherwise. "Really?"

"I'm almost sure of it." And noticing Willow's expression, she added, "Looks like those marks on you are a bit older. Did you two do _**any**thing _since that time?"

Willow knew what '_**any**thing_' was referring to and shook her head. "She tried her best to ignore me after...that night."

Not particularly inclined to hear the entire sob-story but still feeling strangely committed to help the other redhead, now that she knew why the brunette had tried to apologize, the vampire said, "Yeah, well, she told me she's sorry for whatever she did. She said she didn't mean it. And that she wanted another chance."

Funny that she believed her vampire double so easily, but she did. "She'll get it," she said determined, her face portraying pure softness.

"Cool, then," the vampire replied. At least one of them would get to have a little more fun with the brunette. She knew what the others were planning out there. Something Willow insisted on, though Buffy and partly the others still had their doubts. A spell to send the vampire back to her world. Finally. She knew that trouble awaited her there. They had been in a big fight, just before she had woken up here. But maybe that fight...and all this here was just a really weird dream. Maybe one of her last victims had been on drugs...

And when she'd wake up...she'd go looking for the brunette. Just in case. Hey, maybe she was a little confused right now, but she still had her vampire urges. And hopes.

The vamp adjusted her leather outfit properly, making sure that it fit right. She glanced at Willow one last time before she looked down at herself again. Willow did the same.

"This is so much better," they said in unison.

* * *

They all had made their way to the factory that in-the-end-not-so-Evil Willow first had appeared in this reality. They must have been a pretty weird sight - all seven of them, squeezed into Uncle Rory's convertible, which was still in Xander's possession; Xander behind the wheel, Angel right next to him, sitting between Xander and Vamp Willow, sort of protecting him from her, Buffy sitting right behind the female vampire, stake at the ready, in case the redheaded girl got any funny ideas, Giles sitting between her and Willow, Anya, bound and gagged and still unconscious, sprawled over the laps of all three of them.

Buffy had apparently not overheard their conversation. If she did, she didn't let it show.

After having reached the factory, and giving Anya a rough wake-up call in the form of cold water in her face, Giles and a reluctant Anya set up the spell to send Evil Willow back.

Xander stepped over to the vampire, but cautiously, not getting too close. Angel kept a wary eye on her from behind. "So, um, in your reality, I'm like this bad-ass vampire, huh? People afraid of me?"

Evil Willow just looked at him shortly, at this way too happy and upbeat and...badly dressed version of Xander, then rolled her eyes and turned away. Yeah, _her_ Xander was so much better.

Xander stepped away, gleefully. "Oh, yeah. I'm bad."

Willow and Buffy were observing Vamp Willow as well. They didn't really have much to do concerning the spell. The important ingredients - the sacred sand, the two Willows and Anya - were here. Giles and the evil-evil ex-demon - a vengeance demon, as she had let them know threateningly several times in the last few minutes - could handle the set-up alone.

"I'm not sure about releasing this thing into the wild, Will. It is a demon," Buffy said unsure, not letting the vampire out of her sight.

"I just can't kill her," Willow replied.

"No. Me, neither," though still reluctant, Buffy finally agreed.

"I mean, I know she's not me. We have..." she hesitated for a bit, "...almost...nothing in common, but... still."

"There but for the grace of getting bit," the blonde said understandingly.

Willow was resolute. "We send her back to her world, and she stands a chance. It's the way it should be anyway." She knew her vampire probably wouldn't behave like _she_ expected her to, once she was back in her own world. But...witnessing how her alter ego was killed would be simply unacceptable. If this happened in the other universe...well, at least she wouldn't have to see it.

"Uh, we're about ready here," Giles informed them.

Fluffy-clad Willow nodded and went over to Leather and Lace Girl, wanting to say goodbye.

"Don't you try any tricks now, dear," Giles warned Anya.

"I don't need tricks," Anya retorted sulkily. With contemptuous arrogance she added. "When I get my powers back, you will all grovel before me."

Both Willows rolled their eyes and shook their heads at her simultaneously. The threat was getting old fast. Buffy looked amused, watching the two Willows that for this short moment seemed incredibly alike.

Giles was unimpressed by Anya's latest attempt at intimidating them. "Yes, uh, if you, uh, Willow...s, would like to, uh," he gestured where they should kneel around the symbol on the ground, "complete the circle."

Willow faced her vampire doppelganger for the last time. "Good luck," she said.

"You too," the vampire replied and only Willow knew what she was getting at.

"Thanks," Willow smiled gratefully. "And...try not to kill people," she added, knowing that it probably fell on death...uh, deaf ears.

Willow smiled warmly at her and gave her a big hug. Evil Willow got into the spirit and did some naughty touching. After all it was the last time she would have the opportunity for that...

Willow jumped back. "Hands! Hands!" she squeaked in shock. _God, some things never change..._

Vamp Willow gave her a naughty, knowing smile.

The two of them walked over to join the circle. They knelt down and Giles started the ritual.

* * *

After Vamp Willow was transported back to her reality, the Scoobies released Anya from "custody". She couldn't do any harm and it was no need to keep her around for longer than necessary.

Xander offered to take vampire Angel home in his convertible, with closed top. It was barely morning by now, and despite the sky being cloudy, there was still a relative danger of bursting up in flames. Giles went with them, for no particular reason.

Buffy offered to go with Willow, who herself had opted to walk the back into town...for reasons only Willow knew. And Vamp Willow. But the little witch didn't mind her friend's company for now. Though she somehow still feared that her best friend had detected something and would want to talk about it now, in private. But Buffy seemed happily unaware and rather used their little walk to talked about creepy doppelgangers and that she didn't know how she would handle a situation like this one.

They stopped at a crossroad and Willow told her friend she had somewhere to be. Buffy frowned for a second, seemingly having momentarily forgotten that there was another matter at hand, but then gave her 'okay'. "Okay. I'll call you later," the slayer waved and walked on.

Willow slowly walked in the respective direction, soon passing the Shady Hill cemetery.  
She knew what she had to do. Where she wanted to go. Needed to go.

* * *

Faith shoved a slip of paper into the back pocket of her jeans. Her hands were bloody, dirtying her pants. Though being injured, covered in little and some bigger cuts, her hands didn't hurt. She was too upset to feel any pain.

Her motel room was a mess. Her punching-bag-door-jamb was literally ripped to pieces. Feathers and pieces of wood lying around everywhere, the plaster on the wall severely damaged.

A duffel bag was sitting on Faith's bed. Various clothes were thrown in it already, stained with blood.

She opened a drawer on her dresser and pulled the last of her few clothes out, putting them in the bag as well.

She had made a decision. She needed to leave Sunnydale, right now. She couldn't stand having to face the Scoobies again. And she couldn't stand having to face Willow. Vampire Willow. Willow without her soul.

Her feelings for Willow were strong. Still. And a little part of her said that it still could be okay. That she could still go and find Willow and try to get back into Willow's good graces and...

A much bigger part, though, said, that she...she couldn't. She wasn't B. She simply _couldn't_ do this... this vampire loving. And it wouldn't be fair to Willow.

_It would only be fair of me to kill her, really kill her. She shouldn't have to live like this for all eternity...or for the rest of her undead life... don't know if Buffy has the emotional strength to kill her best friend...even if she's a demon._

A knock on the door brought her out of her thoughts. She thought that it was probably her neighbor whom she had kept awake for hours. "Neighbor", great term. Barely anyone really lived here. Most people only checked in here for a night or even a few hours, stopping by to get some sleep on their stopover in this goddamn town, or looking for a place to... relax some...

Whoever really lived here, permanently, was either some kind of demon...the clever ones preferred to lay low, and this was one of the places to do so, since the manager didn't particularly care, whom he offered a room, as long as the money was right...or one of those underprivileged people, who couldn't afford anything else, didn't know where else to go. What did these "permanent residents" have in common? They were outsiders in this society, and many people preferred to not think about them, denying their existence.

Faith was one of these people. She deserved nothing else. She shouldn't even..._denying existence_...she shouldn't...Maybe it would have been better, if she had never been born. Just like her mommy had often told her. Faith was beginning to believe she had been right.

Was there anything good she had done in her life? She couldn't name one single thing. There were only bad things. Terribly bad things. People had died because of her. Her mommy, because Faith's sheer existence had ruined her life and had made her search for the one escape she knew - alcohol; her watcher, because she was a sad slayer excuse for a slayer, whose feeble attempts to harm Kakistos had been more laughable than anything, to say the least; and Willow, because..._you're a useless, pathetic idiot! _

She should just end this. Instead of leaving? Where should she go from here, anyway? She didn't even have a real plan. There were some things she wanted to do before she took off, but she didn't even know how.

Maybe she should simply forget about those and instead...or still do those things and afterwards...? This was weird. Being torn between running off and...the other alternative. No...she wasn't even slayer enough to kill herself. _Pathetic, huh? You caused so much pain and death, and are afraid to take your own life?! _

Yeah, she was pathetic. She would run. Whatever happened after this...even her death at someone else's hand...okay. _Coward still doesn't mind her own death..._

There was another knock on the door Faith went to open. Right after dealing with her neighbor, manager, or whoever it might be, she would be off.

The one person she didn't expect to see...Willow. Vampire. The redheaded...vampire standing in front of her, dressed in fuzzy Willow-y gear, sweater and pink skirt. The sky was clouded, no sun to be seen.

"Look, vampy, just don't, okay?" was the only thing Faith had to say. Did the vampire have to come here and mock her now? Show her what an idiot she had been? She wasn't wearing these clothes for no reason; probably wanted to show her _who_ exactly she had let get killed.

"Faith, you don't understand," Willow started her explanation, knowing very well that Faith wouldn't believe her right away when she told her that she was _not_ a vampire. There was no reason Faith should believe her. This alternate universe thing was just too freaky to understand. Even for herself, and she had witnessed it. "I'm not what you think I am. I'm not a vampire, I'm Willow - really!" she went on.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," Faith reached behind her for the cross that was lying on the dresser.  
She held it into Willow's face. The redhead flinched when she saw Faith's bloody hand.

"See? I knew it," the slayer mistook this reaction as a vampire's shying away from a cross. "You can't trick me."

She left the door open and walked back to her bed, continuing to pack.

"What happened to your hands?" Willow asked but knew that she didn't need an explanation when she saw the room. The holes in the wall, torn pillows, blood-smears.

"Do not pretend that you care," the slayer murmured. "You're not Willow. My Willow is dead and it's all my fault."

Willow's heart hurt when she saw Faith like this. And she knew what the slayer was doing, leaving the place where she thought she has caused so much irreparable pain.

She knew it was Faith's nature to take off when things got out of control. She had done it a few months ago when Buffy and that fake watcher had betrayed her, she had done it after their night together...and she was about to do it again.

"And don't you try anything," Faith warned her. "You'd be dead...for real, before you'd even notice."

Willow touched Faith's arm lightly, tried to soothe her, "Faith, wait..."

Faith decided to go through with her threat. She grabbed Willow, slung her left arm around her from behind, her hand covering Willow's mouth. Her right arms gripped Willow's shoulder.

One yank of her left arm and it would be over. She knew that with enough momentum, she could twist the vampire's neck enough to "kill" her. Unconventional way of killing a vampire, but it worked. She already had experience with it, using it when there was no stake nearby.

And it this case...was it this need to feel Willow close to her one last time? Or was it that she couldn't stand shoving a stake in Willow's heart? It didn't matter. "I'm so sorry," the slayer whispered into the redhead's ear. And it was true.

_to be continued..._

* * *

_So, next chapter is chapter **13**...bad omen?_


	13. Deine Schützenden Hände

**Title: **Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author:** lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing:** A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. Thank you all for these characters!  
**Schedule:** I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the because of...what do you call this again...oh, right, "life"! ;)  
**Thanks to:** My lovely betas Wil-Lehane- and K  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers).

**A/N #1: So, let's see if 13 is a lucky number or not. I know that it's practically following me around lately, and I haven't decided yet if that's a good thing or not. Friday 13th is coming up, and that's when I have to take a language level exam in Modern Greek...well, I don't know much Greek, actually, but I know what "Fear of Friday 13th" means in Greek... (paraskevidekatriaphobia) :P :P :P**

**A/N #2: Hope all your kiddies and hubbies got something to eat, after you were done reading ;)**

**A/N: #3: I guess there'll be another note at the end of this chapter (which even without author's notes is the longest chapter so far, after Puppy Love) ...you'll understand once you read the chapter title and go "Huh...??"**

* * *

CHAPTER THIRTEEN -- ICH LEGE MEINE KLEINE GROßE WELT IN DEINE SCHÜTZENDEN HÄNDE

"Faith!" Willow's scream was muffled by the slayer's hand over her mouth, "Don't!" So many thoughts were running through her brain in that short moment. Mostly panicked and confused thoughts. One clear one. _I love you._

Faith, still keeping Willow in her death grip, about to end the vampire's existence, noticed the other girl's breathing quicken in panic.

_Breathing...Breathing?!_

She removed her hand from Willow's mouth and spun her around. She stared at her for long seconds…before her trembling fingers sought Willow's pulse point.

Willow simply let it happen. Her shock wore off slowly as she saw Faith's eyes widen in sheer amazement and realization. She could only begin to understand what the slayer must feel right now.

Faith's fingers found a strong and very fast pulse – the result from Willow's near-death-experience. Her hand moved down to the chest where she witnessed the wonderful sensation of Willow's heartbeat.

The vampire had been appalled when she had felt Xander's heartbeat. For her feeling Willow's was the most beautiful thing ever. Her brain was reeling. The vampire. She had seen her. Had seen the vampire face, the teeth. How…

"How...?" She stepped back slowly; her hand covered her mouth as she started sobbing. Only this time it was mainly tears of pure joy; just a hint of shock about her almost murder of real-alive Willow stained this feeling. She remembered how Willow had said she trusted Faith's instincts. 'Not just her slayer instincts, her human instincts'. Had she been happy back then that Willow thought of her as more than just a slayer, she was even more upset now. Her _slayer_ instinct had just failed her terribly.

But Willow held her arms open as an invitation and closed the gap between them. Faith rushed towards her, embracing Willow as tightly as possible without actually hurting her with her slayer strength. Her knees gave in and they both crashed down to the floor.

Faith didn't know what the hell had happened, but right now she didn't really care. All that mattered was that Willow was alive, that she hadn't let her get killed.

Faith infected Willow with her sobs and soon they cried in each other's arms. For minutes. The outside world slipped away, at this very moment it was just the two of them, together again.

Right now Willow wished that she really were a vampire, because Faith was making it incredibly hard for her to breathe, she was holding on to her so tight.

"I'm so sorry," Faith cried into the nape of Willow's neck and shoulder. The same words that she had used when she had held Willow in her death grip but the meaning was so different. Now it was an apology for the last few days. And for the last minute.

"Ssh," Willow's hand glid soothingly over the slayer's back. "It's okay, sweetie." The redhead smiled through her tears. Her latest almost-death was already forgotten.

Everything her friends and her vampire double had told her about Faith showing up at the Bronze came flooding back to her. That she had come to apologize, that she didn't mean what she had said, that she wanted another chance. The hurt and horror in her eyes upon finding out that she…Willow was dead and that it was her fault.

Willow understood very well how this must have been. For her facing her doppelganger had been creepy enough, but for Faith…thinking that she had died because of her…no, she would never want to be in such a situation. That must have been…no, she couldn't even find a word for what Faith must have felt.

It must have been so much more than just despair and…anger, she felt as she took in the room through blurry eyes. Now she also knew why Faith's phone line was dead.

She could feel the other girl's hurt all over. Not the physical one, which she didn't know, if even Faith could feel it right now. But the emotional – definitely.

The brunette still clung to her presumed dead lov—…her frie—...to Willow. She couldn't believe it. Willow…the alive Willow…here in her arms…she didn't know how this was possible, but right now she was too happy to care. She hoped Willow would explain all this to her at some point.

_Oh, God, Willow…_

She wanted to tell her everything…wanted to apologize over and over, for yesterday…and the days before yesterday. She wanted to tell her how much she meant to her.

But she was too tired… With Willow being here, all that rage, anger, desperation had simply left her body. Along with her strength. All she could do was hold onto the other girl as long as this one let her.

And Willow let her. Waiting until she felt Faith's tears slowing and her sobs ebbing down.

Slowly she disentangled herself from Faith, but not releasing her fully. She simply wanted to look at her.

At first Faith didn't meet her eyes. She tried to wipe her tears away, but Willow grabbed her hand and stopped her. She looked down at her bloody hands and realized why Willow had just done this. Oh, God, she must have smeared blood all over Willow's sweater…

"Let me." Willow cupped the slayer's face with both her hands and wiped the tears off with her thumbs. Then she pressed her forehead against Faith's as both tried to get their breathing back to normal. Faith didn't really know what to do with her hands so she just rested them in between them, almost touching Willow's thighs.

After a few moments, Willow put her arms around her again, pulled them up and moved Faith to sit on the bed. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up," she said tenderly.

Faith nodded. Willow walked into the bathroom to find some towels and a washing cloth. She looked at herself in the mirror and wiped her own face dry with a smile.

Faith's eyes never left Willow. Two minutes ago, she had…she had tried to kill her. That on top of everything else she had done… She feared that an 'I'm sorry' would never be enough. _How could it be?_

But when Willow came back in…she simply smiled. As if it all didn't matter anymore, had never happened.

She kneeled in front of Faith, put the towel under Faith's hands, covering the denim-clad legs.

Faith flinched when suddenly Willow's hand shot up to her cheek, before, calming down she realized that the redhead had the washcloth in her hand and only wanted to clean her face, which apparently was dirty. Faith enjoyed this treatment as long as it lasted.

Then Willow started to dab at blood and other dirt that clung to the slayer's fingers. Faith watched closely. She knew that Willow was only cleaning her wounds, but it felt as if the redhead was caressing them, she was so gentle.

When the hands were fully cleaned, Willow saw the extent of Faith's injury. She found deeper cuts on some of the knuckles and some splinters. She winced a little. This must be painful. "Where is your first aid kit?"

"Cupboard under the sink," Faith pointed towards the bathroom with her head. Her heart almost sank when Willow had to leave her hands temporarily, though she knew she would be back in a few seconds.

Willow retrieved it and came back. Opening it, she quickly found what she hoped for. "This might hurt," she informed the rather stoic slayer as retrieved a pair of tweezers, sat back down and went to work.

Faith hissed a few times, but stayed quiet otherwise. Willow made sure that she really got all the splinters out right this time. Because once Faith's slayer healing kicked in, new skin would grow over it very quickly and make the removal of possible remaining splinters more complicated...and painful.

After she was done, she took the slayer's hands in her own again, softly caressing the injured flesh. "Do you have iodine ointment or something like that?" she asked. She hadn't seen any, but maybe Faith kept it somewhere else.

"Not at the moment," Faith said, much to her and especially Willow's regret.

"Okay," Willow quickly worked on bandaging Faith's hands provisionally, before bringing the used items into the bathroom. "Come on, I have some at home," she retrieved Faith's discarded jacket and helped Faith putting it on.

Willow made a move to open the door, expecting Faith to follow her. When the slayer stayed put and just stared at her with frightened eyes, she frowned. Was something else wrong? Was Faith also hurt somewhere else? Or…was Faith scared of…going with her, going home with her?

"Faith? What's wrong?" she asked softly and unsure.

"I…," she started and Willow could see new tears threaten to spill, "I…smeared blood all over y-you," she said timidly.

Willow looked down at herself. Only now she saw it. Right over her heart and where Faith's hand had been when the slayer had felt for her pulse. She hadn't even noticed it while looking in the mirror. It had to be on her back as well, and on her neck and face?

"Oh…," was all she said and she could see Faith getting desperate.

"I-I'm sorry," the brunette said and looked like a scared, little child, fearing the wrath of its parent.

"Don't be," Willow smiled and hoped it was reassuring enough. When she noticed Faith relax somewhat, she went into the bathroom to check. Indeed, there was blood. Not much, though. She really hadn't noticed it before. Funny, she had seen it on Faith's face right away; maybe her eyes were just temporarily blind for anything related to not-Faith. She washed her face and neck quickly. The blood on her sweater…she could live with it. It wouldn't be the first time she walked through town with blood on her clothes. It came with the being-friends-with-a-slayer-gig.

She was surprised when she went back out and saw Faith frantically rummaging through the bag she had been packing. Before she could ask what the girl was planning, this one pulled out a dark-brown leather jacket, which appeared to be bloodstain-free…probably thanks to the material and the color.

"H-Here," the brunette came walking over on still unsteady feet, "put this on."

Willow's heart melted. Faith still had this scared look in her eyes, but her lips showed a tiny, hopeful smile. It made her definitely not want to decline this offer, though she even would have walked out there without the jacket to cover her up. "Thanks."

* * *

God, she had to look weird. In her prink skirt, her white tights, her orange sneakers, her fluffy sweater…and Faith's almost-black and fairly heavy leather jacket, drawn tightly around her. But it felt good, Faith was practically glued to her, even though they weren't even touching at the moment.

On their way, Faith realized that Willow's home was probably only a couple of blocks away from Buffy's. She had walked through these streets several times in the last few months, mostly on patrols, but hadn't known that the redhead lived here.

She spent most of the walk glancing at Willow. Willow that walked by her side, from the look on her face, lost in thoughts. Faith just hoped they weren't bad thoughts.

She would have loved to hold on to Willow's hand, but didn't know if this gesture was really appreciated. Not because other people might see them – the streets were abandoned on this Saturday morning – but because she had hurt the redhead deeply and…even after Willow's gentleness towards her in the last minutes…wasn't sure how Willow felt about her right now. She knew she shouldn't push anything.

Willow caught the slayer's hesitant looks her way and took the other girl's hand gingerly, not wanting to cause her any pain. Faith smiled at her in gratitude.

* * *

They reached Willow's house in no time and Willow reluctantly let go of Faith's hand to open the front door. They hung up their jackets before she showed Faith to the living room and went to find her special slayer-first-aid kit under her bed.

As she came back, she saw Faith standing in front of the fireplace, looking down at it.

"I love those," Faith acknowledged Willow's return. "When I was a kid I always wanted to live in a nice house that has a fireplace, you know?" she said slowly and faced Willow.

The redhead was a little unsure of what to make of this statement. It dawned on her that she had no idea how the slayer had lived the first fifteen or sixteen years of her life.

"My watcher...I lived with her after my mom died...," upon talking about her mom, Faith's face was strangely unreadable.

Willow missed this, busy realizing that this is also a thing she hadn't known before. Giles had probably known, maybe even Buffy, but the rest of them didn't have a clue. _Not that I really thought of Faith as someone's child before...Poor Faith, everyone she's ever trusted or loved in some way has died._

The redhead started to understand the younger girl's way of thinking. _It's no wonder that she has problems to let anyone get close to her. She must be afraid that it'll happen again. And that it might even happen because of her! And thinking of last night is this respect…_

She focused on the other girl who seemed lost in her own thoughts at the moment.

"...you know, she had a fire place," the slayer continued. "I sat there very often, long hours, just staring into the fire, watching it burn...," she smiled. "And it's a nice way to keep you warm. Boston winters can be really cold." Now her smile turned into a smirk. "Plus it had a soothing effect on me, which my watcher was very grateful for, I guess. I…_seem_ to be a little wild child, you know."

"Oh, yeah!" Willow gave back, happy to see her slayer's mood lighten.

Faith smiled along with her and continued her thought. "But you know what I wonder? Why do houses in California have fire places? I mean, Giles', the Summers' home...Cordelia's house has probably ten of them... "Willow snickered at this. "I mean, it's not like it gets fricken cold here..."

And the redhead had to admit that she had never really thought about the fireplace-in-Sunny-California-thing. _Huh…that is weird…_

"...well, except for that Christmas here two months ago. Joyce told me that it was the first time she's ever seen it snow over here...We sat in front of the fireplace, with cups of hot cocoa in our hands and talked for hours." _One of my best nights since I've come to Sunnydale._

Willow couldn't hear the last thought, but she could see it shimmering in Faith's eyes. Smiling warmly, she put the first-aid kit down on the table and walked over to Faith. "You know, we can start a fire in there any time you want." Willow grinned. "I might even do it on purpose if you get too wild for my taste, Sparky!"

The slayer raised her eyebrows, astonished at her new nickname.

"But right now we need to take care of your hands. Come here," Willow said and they both sat down on the couch.

As Willow undressed her hands, Faith glanced at the first-aid kit, which was actually a light-blue lunchbox with Snoopy and Woodstock on it. She smiled. "Cute."

"I bought it years ago, from my first pocket money. So, way before I knew about slayers and demons and things like that," Willow explained as she opened the box. "But it was a first-aid kit ever since. Xander and I used to play doctor, you know."

Faith grinned naughtily and earned a slap on her thigh. "Get your mind out of the gutter! We didn't...you know, like you think." Willow defended herself.

Faith grinned even more and Willow grabbed one of her wrists and tried to hide her blush.

"Right. Sorry," Faith tried to stop grinning.

Willow opened the tube containing the iodine ointment. She put some of it on her finger and softly applied to Faith's injured flesh. Faith hissed again and bit her lower lip, but calmed visibly when the cooling effect of the ointment set in.

Afterwards Willow bandaged the hands carefully and fixed the mull with red band-aid. She brought the first-aid kit back to her room and looked through her dresser, finding something for Faith to wear. _She can't stay in these clothes forever._

She picked some grey sweat pants and a dark-red Sunnydale High t-shirt. Not very flattering, but it would do. Discarding her bloodstained clothes as well, she slipped into a similar outfit.

When she came back she saw Faith stifling a big yawn. "Sorry. Long night," the slayer smiled fondly at her.

"Yeah," Willow sighed, relieved that said night ended happily after all.

They got rid off Faith's dirty clothes quickly and helped her into the clean ones. Here and there Faith gave a Willow a sexy purr whenever the other girl's hands made contact with her skin and at one point she made a joke about naughty nurses, which resulted in a Willow-smirk.

That's what I love about her, Willow thought about Faith's saucy and playful nature as she brought the clothes into the laundry room. She felt around in the pockets of Faith's pants to make sure that nothing was left in them. In a back pocket she found a folded slip of paper, some blobs and smears of dried blood ruined the otherwise neat appearance.

Willow hesitated for a seconds, thought about whether she should open it or not. Eventually her curiosity got the better of her. She unfolded the small letter – written in Faith's scrawly and unique hand-writing – and started to read.

--

_Dear Buffy,_

_I really don't know how to say this…so I'm just gonna say it._

_What happened to Willow was my fault. I'm responsible for her death._

_You probably don't know this, but Willow and I…have been together, at least for one night. The one night you came to my room because Giles and Wesley were in trouble, Willow was in my room with me._

_That's why I needed so damn long to get ready. That's why I went to that coffee place after the fight and rushed back to my motel room. I know my behavior that night made you suspicious._

_But after that night…I chickened. I…let my brain convince me that it couldn't work, that I'd just go and hurt her if we'd go on with this._

_I was scared. Not only of Willow getting hurt, but…of the fact that I…have feelings for her. I'm…not good at this - this touchy-feely-thing…I always screw up._

_So I took off. And then pushed her away, ignored her…I did everything possible to make her hate me…I knew it'd be easier for her to get over this, if she hated me._

_But she just…Thursday night she came by my room, wanted to talk it all over. And I…I crushed her, on purpose. I just wanted her to leave me alone. I said so many horrible things to her, just to get her off my back._

_In the end it worked. And I'll never forget the look on her face... I know she'd seen through me, but she took off. And I finally had what I wanted._

_It was the last time I saw her alive. I let her get killed. She ran off in the middle of the night, and I didn't follow her._

_Willow was the first person that I might have been able to…that I…that I loved. I loved her. And if I had the chance now…God, I'd do it differently._

_And that's why I'm leaving. I can't make it okay, and I can't stand to see Willow like this and know that it happened because I freaked._

_If you should find me…I give you the right to kill me, because that's what I deserve. I let Willow get killed because I was a coward._

_'I'm sorry' doesn't even come close to what I'm feeling and cannot make up for everything I did._

_You have every reason to hate me._

_--_

_Faith_

Willow folded the letter back together as tears started to well up in her eyes. Tears of happiness that Faith had confessed her love for her. Something she had hoped for, something her doppelganger had sensed already. She had felt something coming from Faith as well, but somehow…knowing how she really felt, having the evidence right in front of her…it did mean so much to her.

* * *

When she walked back into the living room, she found the slayer lying on the couch with eyes closed. But she wasn't sleeping...at least not yet. Faith's eyes opened when she heard the redhead come in. She looked at Willow and immediately recognized the letter she was holding in her hands. Her letter to Buffy, the one her distressed hadn't had an idea of how to get it to the blonde without having to face her again.

She sat up with a start, wincing as her hands scratched along the surface of the couch.

"Willow, I…," she started, feeling that the other girl had probably read it. With others she might have been angry because they were butting in on her privacy. With Willow she was just afraid of the reaction she would get, still unsure about the other girl's feelings after everything that had happened. Maybe she was just being friendly and helpful. First-aiding someone, taking them home…even holding hands…didn't have to mean that there was still hope…

But Willow…sat down beside her and laid the letter on the table. She faced the slayer and gently brushed some hair behind Faith's ear, making sure to catch the slayer's eyes while doing so, observing her reaction. She didn't want to scare the girl. But Faith didn't look scared; there seemed to be only one emotion in her right now – relief. Cupping her cheek, she leaned over and kissed her mouth softly, for the first time since Saturday night..._or Sunday morning, whatever_. And it still felt so right.

"I love you too," she whispered.

These four little words were all the affirmation Faith needed. She pulled Willow close to her, capturing those sweet lips again.

Willow pushed her down on the couch and settled in beside her. She had buried her hands in the other girl's soft, dark mane. Her tongue nudged the slayer's lips, asking for entrance which was granted instantly. Faith moved her arms to Willow's waist, simply holding her.

There was nothing rushed or hectic about their kisses. They were slow and exploring. A simple getting-to-know-each-other-again. Most of last week's kisses had been frantic, needing, serving one specific purpose.

Faith learned that not every kiss has to lead to sex consequently. Until now those two had been inseparably linked together for her. Kissing sex, 'cuz what the hell are kisses for when they result in...well, nothing?

This was something new to her. Kissing someone just for the purpose of kissing, showing someone that you love them. Faith embraced this new meaning of kissing wholeheartedly.

The kisses eventually became shorter and further between as sleep slowly took over. With her last will to move Willow reached for the blanket on the foot of the couch and covered them both with it. She snuggled closer to Faith and gave her one last kiss on the tip of her nose before she drifted off to a content sleep.

Faith looked at her for a little while longer, thanking whoever was up there that a second chance with Willow had been given to her. She listened to Willow's oh-so-not-vampire heartbeat, the breathing.

She still thought about future happenings, possible hurt – physical or emotional – or even things like death. But she didn't want to run anymore. This…this lovely girl in her arms and the love they held for each other – it was all that mattered. She could do it, could make sure nothing ever happened to Willow and stay with her. She just had to convince herself…over and over. She hoped her crazy life would give her enough time to learn how to handle _both_ concepts.

And whatever would happen at some point in the hopefully far-away-future…she hoped they would come out of it unharmed. But the future was then; the only thing here was the now.

She wrapped her arms tighter around Willow – holding onto the 'now' with everything she had. Willow emitted a muffled groan but didn't wake up. Faith knew that her arms would probably be cramped by the time she woke up again, but nothing in this world would keep her from her goal – to keep Willow safe as best as she could.

_to be continued..._

* * *

**A/N #4: Okay, now you might wonder what in God's name that chapter title means... It's a line from a German song called "Das Beste" ("The Best") by Silbermond. And it's one of the few German songs I can actually stand to listen to.  
**

_I'll give you a translation of this song, the part that I made into the chapter title is in** bold** (there was actually once a really cute Faith/Xander-vid with it on Youtube...but it's gone now...but I guess you can at least find that song on Youtube still):_

I found a treasure with your name on it  
It's so beautiful and precious no, money on earth is equal to it  
You fall asleep next to me and I could watch you the whole night  
Watching how you sleep, hearing how you breath, until we wake up the next morning

You did it again, you stole my breath  
When you lay next to me, I have a hard time believing that  
Someone like me deserved something as beautiful as you

Chorus:  
You're the best thing that ever happened to me  
It feels so good, to be loved the way you love me  
I forget everything else, when you're with me  
You're the best thing that ever happened to me  
It feels so good, to be loved the way you love me  
I don't tell you often enough: It's so good that you are there

To hear you laughing makes me addicted, it almost sounds as if it wasn't from this earth  
If being close to you was poisening, I would stay with you until I die  
If you ever had to leave, it would destroy planets, but I don't wanna think about that  
It's so incredible to be with you, when we give love to each other

Got drunk with energy, you take the doubts away from my eyes  
Tell me a thousand lies, I would believe them all  
There's just one single doubt that stays, the doubt that I deserve someone like you

Chorus

When my life gets all messed up, you will be the one that keeps me calm  
Because everything that you give to me, just feels so incredibly good  
When I'm not willing to rest, you're the journey without an end  
** That's why I lay my small big world into your guarding hands**

Chorus

I don't tell you often enough: It's so good that you are there  
I don't tell you often enough: It's so good that you are there

_(Translation taken from Yahoo answers)_

So, I thought the song simply fits this entire chapter in a way, and especially that line. And the lyrics sound much prettier in German than any English translation does ;)

**A/N #5: See you next week. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! :) And, yay, over 100 reviews dies of happiness**


	14. Awakening

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. Thank you all for these characters! Parts of the story line and dialogue taken from the episode "Doppelgängland". No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the because of...what do you call this again...oh, right, "life"! ;)  
**Thanks to: **My lovely betas Wil-Lehane- and K  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

**A/N:** On we go with less German, but more cuteness :) Weird that right this second, that song from chapter 13 is on tv...I swear! Weird coincidence... :P

* * *

CHAPTER FOURTEEN -- AWAKENING

Willow slowly woke up when she felt something soft tickling her face. She opened her eyes and could see barely more than brown hair. Thick, beautiful, brown hair…that currently covered an even more beautiful face.

She leaned back a bit to get a better look at the dark-haired girl and to stop her hair from tickling her. But found that she was unable to move away more than a few inches. Faith was still holding her close, almost as if she was holding onto her for dear life. And maybe she was.

The redhead was at least able to move her hands and used this opportunity to brush some of the hair out of the other girl's face. And there she was – Faith, the vampire slayer. Famous, or infamous – depending on your point of view – for her I-don't-care-what-you-think-of-me attitude, her big mouth, her sexual-aggressive nature; the brat, the bad girl, the dark one. A walking provocation.

There were few people who had been given the chance to look behind this hard, cocky facade that she was working so hard to keep up. Too few. Faith was very careful about who she let catch a glimpse of her softer side. 'Careful' being another word for 'afraid'. Letting your guard down meant making yourself vulnerable. And this was something that Faith didn't want to be.

This was just one of the many reasons for why she kept pushing people away. Most of the time.

But Willow was one of those lucky people who got to see that softer side. She could see the little girl under the hard shell. Yes, the little girl. Seeing her here like this – it made it hard to think of her as anything other than that.

Her brows were scrunched together slightly and her mouth was moving soundlessly. She was dreaming. For a second it seemed as if she might be having a nightmare, and Willow was very close to doing something about it, though she didn't know what exactly. But then the lips started to curl and she smirked lightly.

Willow smiled.

Right then she thought that was possibly the cutest thing she had ever seen. And not only because this was the first time she really noticed the light freckles that were usually buried under make-up.

Willow suddenly felt the weird urge to count those little spots. The number of freckles couldn't compete with her own, she knew that, and it was probably one of the silliest things to do, but Willow figured that it was one way to spend the time until Faith woke up.

At first, she counted them only with her eyes, but after losing count for the third time – mostly because Faith would emit some tiny emotion and she would find herself mooning at her and completely forgetting her agenda over this – she decided to use her fingers. For counting.

She moved her hand and touched the oh-so-soft skin, not managing to suppress the urge to cup Faith's face for a minute. The slayer seemed to react to her touch, moved into her hand a little, but apart from that didn't move.

_Still asleep…?_ Willow grinned and after a while went to follow her original plan.

She started at the forehead and soon after moved on to the bridge of Faith's nose where the majority of the freckles were located. Willow was aware that her fingers probably had a ticklish effect, but, in case she was still asleep, the slayer still showed no sign of waking up.

She finally reached the tip of the nose. So far, she had counted 47 freckles. Just a few more and she would know exactly how many...

Faith's nose started twitching. Faster than the average human being could, Faith reacted, removed one of the hands that was holding Willow close and quickly covered her nose. She sneezed one tiny, soundless sneeze and put her hand back in its original place before the redhead could fall off of the couch. One relaxing sniff later, the slayer slowly opened her eyes.

"Hey," Faith grinned and nudged Willow's nose with her own, "and before you apologize, I've been awake longer than you think."

_Knew it…_ "Who says I wanted to apologize?" Willow returned the grin. "I wanted to say 'Good morning', but..." she craned her neck to get a look at the clock on the wall over the fireplace. Faith clinging to her didn't make this task easy. Nonetheless, she could see that it was a quarter past five pm, "...that would be a lie." She settled back into the slayer's overprotective arms. "You do realize that you have to let go of me sometime, right?" she asked with a smile.

Faith pouted candidly. "Do I hafta...?"

"Can't walk around with a slayer attached to my front or back or...," Willow didn't continue her thought as her fingers traced Faith's collarbone. She didn't make eye contact with the slayer. "What would the others think?"

Faith noticed the mood switch and her heart sank. She hadn't even really thought about that yet. The rest of Team Scooby… "You gonna tell them?" she asked softly, unsure if she herself wanted to hear a positive or a negative answer to that question.

"I don't know...Maybe we should wait," Willow replied and met Faith's eyes tentatively. She was afraid of her reaction, but also of the reaction of the others. After her thing with Xander, telling them might be too soon. And Faith was a girl…not that that should be a problem, but still. And there was Oz to consider in all this. A twinge of guilt flowed through her. "What do you think?"

"Hey, whatever you want," Faith said and caressed Willow's chin with the thumb of her still bandaged hand. "Okay?"

"Okay," Willow replied relieved and snuggled closer to Faith. The slayer kissed her forehead and put her arm back around her.

They simply looked at each other for long moments, enjoying their closeness, before Willow tilted her head to out a tiny kiss on Faith's lips.

It was not much more than a brushing of their lips. But it felt so good, and Faith returned the kiss equally as softly. Softly. So very unlike her…And it was all Willow's fault. Sweet little Willow…

Never before in her life had Faith let anyone get this close to her – emotionally. And saying that this scared her a little was an understatement. _As long as I don't screw things up we'll be okay, I guess...I hope. I don't want to hurt her any more._ This would be a fresh start for them, and she wanted to do it right.

Willow was more worried about the reactions they would get from the others. She thought about Oz and her betrayal towards him. _Not that he is around much...and even when he is... he's never really there for me...Stupid brain! You can't justify all this by blaming him...it's not right. _

She broke their lip contact and pressed her forehead against Faith's. The slayer frowned a little, but remained still.

_God, how can I ever look him in the eyes again without feeling like the worst criminal ever... Well, the others will maybe accept it after a while...I don't even wanna think about the things that Xander will imagine after he finds out...you just know what he'll think. And Giles will need some new glasses, because you can only clean your glasses ever so often… _

She had to grin at that thought and looked at Faith who was smiling back at her, relieved. "Something funny?" the brunette asked.

"Nah. I was just thinking about Giles' glasses," she explained and got a blank expression from Faith. "You'll understand it soon enough, trust me."

"If you say so," Faith replied, trying to think of something that might be funny when it came to his specs.

But Willow moved on to the next topic and Faith thought that it was better to focus on her instead, especially since Willow was tickling her side with her finger now, maybe on purpose, maybe not. "You know what I wanna do right now?"

"Hm...," Faith pretended to seriously mull it over. She had some ideas that could be fun. Her hands were wandering over the redhead's back and she grinned naughtily. "Not sure. You have to tell me...," her left hand reached the hem of Willow's shirt and slipped under it.

Willow's breath hitched slightly and she had to close her eyes. _Oh, gosh, what'd you expect, Rosenberg? Early morning slayer horniness...no, afternoon...24/7...yeah, that's it. 24/7 slayer horniness. What have I gotten myself into...? I mean, this feels nice...but I still need to..._

"Not that," Willow croaked out and felt bad when she got a pout from Faith. "I, uh...," Willow blushed, "I really need to pee."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Faith shook her head, grinning. She let go off Willow and the redhead slowly sat up.

"No, I am. Stupid body."

"I like your stupid body," Faith replied with a dimpled grin. Willow actually managed to blush a little more. _God, this girl really has a one-track-mind..._

"But speaking of bodies...I'm kinda hungry. I haven't eaten since yesterday. You must be starved, too." A low grumble from Faith's stomach confirmed her presumption. _Hungry and horny, of course. Huh. And without having gone slaying earlier...Go figure_, Willow thought.

"Yeah, that'd be great," Faith said and patted her stomach, "and then you have to explain to me what I saw last night."

Willow realized that Faith had still no idea what happened yesterday. "Oh! Of course! But now I really need to...," she got up from the couch and was about to exit the living room when...

"Oh. Hey, hey, c'mere!" Faith indicated with her hand that she should come back.

"Can it wait?" Willow asked as she turned around with a pained expression on her face. She should have told Faith sooner that she needed to go somewhere. It was getting urgent.

But Faith had none of it. "No! It's really important. C'mere."

Reluctantly Willow went back to the couch. Faith tugged on her arm and forced her to kneel down. "How many did you count?" the brunette asked smirking and put her arm around Willow's neck, bringing them together nose-to-nose.

"You're mean," Willow whimpered but grinned nonetheless. "And you interrupted my counting-session."

"Your own fault."

"Huh." Willow frowned. "I guess. Well, we'll just have to repeat that some time."

"But then I get to count yours, too," Faith kissed Willow softly.

"You bet," Willow smiled and disentangled herself from Faith. "But I'm warning you right away. It will take you a couple of hours, probably."

"Don't have a problem with that." And again there was this naughty, sexy grin.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Willow kissed one of the bandaged hands before she stood up again.

Faith made herself more comfortable on the couch. She gave Willow a light pat on the behind and sent her off to the bathroom. "Now go, before we have a problem in here."

Willow ran off and Faith rolled onto her back. Her hands still hurt a little from holding Willow close for so long. But somehow hurting had never felt so good.

_

* * *

__One minute earlier_

Oz made his way over to Willow's house. He thought he'd surprise her with an early return from his trip. He walked up the front steps and stopped when he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye.

He smiled, thinking his girlfriend was bustling about the living room.

Through the big front window, he saw Willow getting up from the couch and hurrying out of the living room. Almost frowning, though his face didn't actually allow him to, he noticed that Willow was not alone when a bandaged hand shot up from behind the backrest of the couch.

The couch's back was turned towards the window so he couldn't see who exactly was lying on the couch.

Reluctantly Willow came back to the couch and the hand gently, yet resolutely pulled her into a kneeling position. Now Oz could see barely more than her head. He backed up against the wall of the house so that Willow couldn't see him but he could still look in. He knew something was up.

The unknown person – to Oz's eye it looked as if the arm belonged to a female person - put their arm around Willow's neck and drew her in close, out of Oz's line of sight.

A few seconds later, he saw Willow's smiling head reappear; his mind went blank when he saw Willow kissing the hand softly before she got up.

The hand gave her a pat on the butt and sent her out of the living room.

Oz stood paralyzed. For a couple of minutes, he stared; he wanted to see who the person was. The person…whose hand Willow had been kissing, and possibly more, though he did not have hard proof for this.

When he didn't notice any movement for several moments, he turned around and left.

On the outside he seemed calm, on the inside he was caught between hurting, resignation and anger, an emotion he barely know.

What had he just witnessed? Who was this person, with whom Willow was… And since when was this going on?

Or was he maybe reading too much into it? As much as he wanted to believe that…he had a feeling that he wasn't.

_to be continued..._


	15. Food for Thought

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. Thank you all for these characters! Parts of the story line and dialogue taken from the episode "Doppelgängland". No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the because of...what do you call this again...oh, right, "life"! ;)  
**Thanks to: **My lovely betas Wil-Lehane- and K  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

* * *

CHAPTER FIFTEEN -- FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Twenty minutes later, the two girls were preparing everything they needed for the meal that they still hadn't found a name for. It was too early to have dinner; Giles might call it a belated tea time.

_Scottish people would call it an early tea time, because for them 'having tea' means eating dinner..., Willow pondered while preparing some sandwiches,...and, oh, God, talk about useless knowledge!... Well, okay, it might be useful to know that stuff when you're visiting Scotland and are staying with a host family and wonder why they serve their 'tea' at maybe 8 pm when you always thought that Brits drink their 'tea' at 5 pm...But that 5 pm thing might be a myth...I should ask Giles about this...Stop it, Rosenberg! Can you maybe stop thinking for a little..._

She put the sandwiches on a platter, while Faith was still working on some omelets. Willow laid out plates and cutleries. Just when she was done she heard a low growl from Faith.

"Is something wrong?" Willow asked.

Faith turned around with two plates in her hands and a small pout on her lips. "This one omelet looks a little scrambled...sorry...," she explained as she put Mr. Omelet and his little friend Scramble on the kitchen table.

Willow touched the slayer's arm, comfortingly. "No problem. And here, look - have you seen my pancakes yet?" she motioned to the plate she had put on the table minutes earlier. "On some days it doesn't matter how much you work on them," she grumbled, "they simply…"

"Oooh, pancookies!" Faith acknowledged the unfortunate attempt at cooking with a laugh. "But, hey, I bet they still taste yummy."

"And nothing's wrong with scrambled eggs either, you know?"

"I think we're the perfect match." Faith kissed Willow on the cheek. "Okay, let's get started before it gets cold."

Willow wasn't surprised when she saw a few minutes later _how much_ Faith actually managed to eat. It was not as bad as she had feared – knowing Buffy for two and a half years had given her a pretty good idea of what a slayer could eat. So the three sandwiches, six pancakes, two donuts, one half of the scrambled eggs she had inhaled by now might only be the beginning – especially since Faith hadn't eaten anything in the last two days.

Right now Faith was eating a bowl of cereal and was listening attentively to the end of Willow's very long explanation, which had already given her insight on why Buffy had wanted to apologize to her.

"So then we went back to the warehouse where I...she showed up in the first place and prepared that spell to sent her back. Anya swore that we will 'grovel before her' once she got her powers back...," Willow uses her left hand to make quote marks. With the other one, she was holding a sandwich. "Not that she ever will. Anyway, and then I hugged me...uh, her...you-know-who-I-mean goodbye, cuz as it turned out she wasn't all that bad...except for that killing people and groping me thing, which is very unpleasant, mind you…"

Faith thought about it and shrugged. Groping Willow didn't seem so weird to her. But how would Faith feel if her vampire double felt her up? Hm, she would probably get off on it…

"And then we sent her back and ex-demon Anya scampered off like a little bunny and... then I came to your place and you know what happened next."

"Yeah," Faith replied. "And sorry for almost killing you," she had a pained expression on her face.

"It's okay. You couldn't know," Willow smiled reassuringly, though rather wanting to forget those seconds of her life. "You couldn't know that there were two Willows..."

_Two Willows **could** have been **fun**... _Faith got carried away by certain fantasies for a second. Finally, she shook her head, "This Anya chick needs some serious ass-kicking, if you ask me."

"It's not really her fault," Willow pacified.

"Still!" Faith tried to get her point across.

"No, don't get in trouble because of me," Willow shook her head vehemently. Somewhat amused, but not sure if Faith was being serious or not.

"I need to protect my girl," Faith sat up straight, thumped her chest and almost managed to choke on her cereal in the process. "It's a thing."

Even more than making sure Faith wouldn't die on her in the next couple of seconds and faintly blushing at the slayer's words, she had to smile about Faith's cute Boston accent when pronouncing the word 'girl'; somehow it seemed, as if that word was made for that accent alone. "A guy thing, maybe. You're not a guy...as far as I remember."

"Well, did you look hard enough?" Faith grinned.

"I think so," Willow replied with a similar expression. "Besides I socked her on the jaw. I'm good," she said nonchalantly and took a bite from her sandwich.

Faith sat wide-eyed for a second; Willow had obviously left that part out in her earlier explanation. "Red! I'm surprised. I didn't know you had it in ya...," she said and patted Willow's knee appreciatively. "Well, okay, from that one night I know that you can hold your own, but still...," she said, before almost regretting it.

"Yeah..."

They both thought about that one night which had changed their lives somewhat. Faith's almost-killing of Finch – the part Faith regretted having subtly brought up – which somehow lead to Willow and Faith eating ribs in a shabby restaurant which then somehow lead to them ending up in Faith's motel room – or more precisely the slayer's bed – together – the part Faith didn't regret having brought up.

The outside observer would probably have some problems to comprehend what happened between them; even to Willow and Faith it seemed a little crazy. But it was an experience that they wouldn't give up for anything now. Even if the major part of the last week hadn't been all that pleasant. Especially Thursday night.

Silence settled in as they let last week's happenings ran through their heads. It edged on oppressive when Faith started poking at her omelets pensively. Willow felt that she might be thinking about their fight two days ago. Well, not fight, more Faith deliberately paving right over Willow's feelings, just because she was afraid to let the redhead get close to her.

Willow tried to think of something else they could talk about. She remembered something she heard Buffy, Giles and Wesley talk last week.

"So…I heard the Watcher's Council is running some tests on you...," she prodded.

"Oh, yeah," Faith confirmed this, glad that Willow had given her something else to think about. "Next week's the big week," Faith actually seemed thrilled about that. "They're gonna do some physical tests, you know, reflexes and stuff like that. Should be a blast. Just that psych stuff gives me the wiggins."

"Why?"

"It just does. Maybe fear that they diagnose me as more than just a little 'wack'," Faith shrugged.

Willow smiled. True, Faith _might_ have some crazy moments every now and again, but... "Don't worry, I think you're safe. Just don't say 'yes' if they ask you if you ever wanted to be florist."

Faith scrunched her eyebrows in question.

"I read it in one of my parents' books. It apparently means you're crazy. Don't ask me why…," Willow explained and sipped on her cocoa.

"Oh, right, your parents are shrinks, I remember B mentioning it," Faith replied. "But, uh...speaking of, where are they?" She didn't notice anyone tiptoeing around them while they were sleeping on the couch. And she didn't think they would have done that, if Will's parents actually _had _been there.

Willow just shrugged. "I think they're at a conference somewhere in Asia right now. Actually, I don't really know. Lost track of where they were heading off to years ago."

Faith could hear the hurt in Willow's voice. "They do this often, huh?" she inquired more sensitive. She feared that she had touched a sore spot. "Do you know when they will get back?"

Willow shook her head. "Don't know. But probably not in the next two months."

"Must be pretty lonely, living all by yourself," Faith thought. Even though she was used to it herself, and her own mother was, well… sometimes having someone around you was not a bad thing…

Sure Willow wished that she could have spent more time with her parents in the past. _Every child should have some kind of bond to their parents, right? Not in the 'I-want-you-to-be-around-me-24/7-and-butting-in-on-each-and-every-single-one-of-my-activities', cuz that can be annoying as well. But it would be nice if they were at least around sometimes..._ Mrs. Summers was more like a mom for her than her own was... "I'm used to it," Willow simply replied.

"I know the feeling," Faith shared her sentiment. She looked at Willow and saw her nodding in understanding; her eyes looked sad. Faith reached across the table and took the redhead's hand in hers. With her thumb, she drew small circles on the freckled skin.

Willow managed a little smile. Somehow, Faith just knew how to handle her. _Oh, that sounded...wrong..._she smirked. Okay, Faith just knew how to…lighten her mood. _Better?_

Faith's heart leaped when she saw this. Jeez, look at me, spent a couple of days with Will and already I'm all touchy-feely...holding her hand and happy about every single positive sign of emotion...Not that I'm complaining! No, sir!

The ringing telephone interrupted their most recent simply-sit-there-and-beam-at-your-honey-session.

Faith let go off Willow's hand as the redhead got up with the intention to answer it.

"I'll be right back," Willow said and walked into the living room, but not before giving Faith a small kiss. A few seconds later, she answered the phone, "Hello?"

"Hey, Will, it's me," she heard Buffy's voice over the handset. "Just wanted to check how you are." Just like Buffy had promised.

"Super!" Willow spurted out a little too quickly and too loudly. Startled, Faith almost dropped her bowl of cereal, from which she was currently slurping the milk. "I mean...good," she said, less forceful.

"Uh--huh," Buffy drew out her reply. To her, Willow seemed just a little too chipper for someone who had just experienced a Freaky Friday with her vampire double. "So, I guess you don't miss your doppelgänger, huh?"

"No, no doppelgänger missage, Buffy, really not."

Faith perked her ears when she heard whom Willow is talking to.

"Though you gotta admit – she was kinda interesting," Buffy pondered. "I mean the clothes alone. It even made _Faith_ blush, I think," the blonde slayer whispered into the phone, as if she feared that said girl suddenly popped up behind her.

"Yeah…F-Faith blushing is, um...," Willow laughed nervously and looked towards the kitchen, because she _really_ might be in danger of said girl suddenly popping up behind her, "...something you don't see every day..."

Buffy's dark half had heard the comment and slowly came walking into the living room, with her arms behind her back and an innocent grin on her face.

"Actually she's the reason I called," Buffy explained.

"Oh?" Willow asked as Faith walked up behind her.

Faith did this deliberately slow, taking a few seconds to look Willow up and down. Even in sweatpants, that girl looked good.

"Do you know where Faith is?" Buffy wanted to know, oblivious that the girl – in this very moment – was putting her arms around Willow from behind. Faith leaned in closer, of course just to listen in and not just because she felt especially snuggle-needy right now...

"Uh...," Willow hesitated for a second; certain…parts…of Faith's body, which were pressing into her back, didn't make it easy to concentrate, "why?" she decided to dodge the question. Better than lying to her.

"Well, I went to her motel room earlier and she wasn't there. And I looked through the window and... it looked like there's been a fight. Looked pretty bad."

Willow didn't know if Buffy knew she had been at Faith's earlier, and if Buffy hoped get some clue from her about what had happened.

"I'm sure she's okay, Buffy," she tried to calm her best friend with a non-committing answer. At least she didn't have to lie about this one.

"I don't know…The last time I saw her was at the Bronze," Buffy continued. "I told you she didn't look good then either. I'm worried."

"I think you don't have to. You'll most likely run into her somewhere and... and she'll have a logical explanation, you know," Willow replied and covered Faith's hands on her tummy with her left one.

"Yeah," Buffy sighed, "yeah, I guess you're right. Well, I'm getting ready for a patrol in about an hour. Maybe I'll catch her in one of the cemeteries."

"Probably."

"Okay, I'll see you on Monday, Will. Bye."

"Bye, Buff," Willow replied and ended the call. She put the phone down and turned around in Faith's arms.

"Now, why did I blush?" Faith smirked.

"Because of...," Willow put her arms around Faith's neck, "skanky Willow in her skimpy outfit. You know, yesterday, when you met her at the Bronze."

"That was actually...well, her hands were pretty...inquisitive...," Faith flashed her a dimpled grin and demonstrated with a not too gentle hand on Willow's butt.

"Ugh, believe me, I know...,"Willow rolled her eyes, though she really didn't mind Faith's hand doing what Vamp Willow's had done not even 24 hours ago.

"Yeah," Faith replied, faintly amused that the vampire would even grope _herself._ "So, B's worried about me." It wasn't a question, but the surprise still showed in Faith's eyes.

Willow pressed her forehead against the slayer's. "She worries about you." She confirmed and caressed her cheek. "And so do I."

Faith leaned forward and kissed her lips softly.

* * *

After her extensive shower – you gotta make use of unlimited hot water whenever and wherever you can - Faith slipped on her freshly cleaned clothes. Thanks to slayer healing her hands were pretty much healed up already. The right one, the one more severely injured yesterday, still showed several cuts and needed to be taken care of some more, but nonetheless should be back to normal by tomorrow.

She walked back into the living room area. "I'm back," she sing-sang, "and smelling wicked nice." Raspberry shower gel, gotta love it.

Willow came over to her, carrying her lunchbox a.k.a. first aid kit. "Mmm, almost too 'wicked nice' to let you go now...," Willow remarked as she leaned in and sniffed. "But you have somewhere to be," she reminded Faith more resolutely. "So sit down."

Faith pouted playingly but complied.

Willow took her injured hand and dressed it again. "So...where you gonna go after patrol?"

"Should probably go back to my place. You know, start with the clean up...as far as 'cleaning up' is possible..." Willow nodded. It was not the reply that she had really wanted to hear, but Faith had a point. "That place is a mess. I'm totally screwed if the manager finds out. He'll kick me out."

Willow looked up from her work. A thought shot through her brain. _Just ask her! Ask her to move in. You wouldn't be alone, she wouldn't be alone. I'm sure she'll...probably say no. Don't crowd her... And, wow, moving fast, brain…_

Faith looked at her questioningly, waiting for a reply. _I could ask her if I could...no, bad idea...she'd be too polite to say no – even if she felt uncomfortable with me being around her 24/7._

"Well, I could help you with the clean-up, you know, if you want me to," Willow suggested hopefully, deciding to follow another train of thought.

"That's sweet of you, Red, but I think I can handle this one solo. And...," she grinned again, "I'm not so sure that _you_ and _me_ would be doing...much in the way of cleaning up," she winked suggestively.

"You're hopeless," Willow shook her head and continued her task.

"You know that already," Faith countered.

"Yeah, I do," Willow grinned and fixed the bandage with a band-aid.

"Thanks," Faith inspected her hand and gave Willow an appreciative kiss. "So, I should probably be going now." She got up and put on her dark leather jacket. "Gonna catch B at home; you know, before she goes looking for me."

"Hope she'll buy the story about a demon attack," Willow replied and got up as well.

"I think she will – it's not like this'd be something new in Sunnyhell. I just hope B hasn't told Mrs. S. about my room and me gone missing. She'd totally freak," she frowned a little. "It's a mom thing to do, I guess," not letting second thoughts show.

"She is a great mom," Willow said and thought of the many evenings she had spent at Buffy's house and the way Buffy's mom had always treated her.

"Uh-huh. And since I don't wanna be responsible for any unnecessary worry lines on her face..."

"Right. Go."

"Okay. I'll see you on Monday," Faith touched Willow's arm briefly and walked towards the front door.

"Faith?" Willow called her back. "Be careful, okay?"

Faith was almost moved to tears when she heard the concern in the redhead's voice. She hadn't really gotten the worry-treatment often when she had been younger, so getting it now – and not only from Willow's side, but also from Buffy and probably even Buffy's mom – was unfamiliar to her. But she was starting to like it.

"You know me," Faith kissed Willow again and walked out of the door quickly – before her tear ducts could get any funny ideas.

"That's why I said it," Willow said to herself as she closed the door.

_to be continued..._

* * *

**A/N: **Hope it didn't bore you too much. But relationship-y groundworks (and other issues concerning the story) need to be established now, you know ;)


	16. The 'Scent' of Change

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. Thank you all for these characters!  
**Schedule:** I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the because of...what do you call this again...oh, right, "life"! ;)  
**Thanks to: **My lovely betas Wil-Lehane- and K  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

**A/N: **Making me blush here, Michi; and, no, I don't have anything published :))) Oh, yeah, by now I noticed that there were email notification problems for chapter 14, in the sense that a lot of people didn't get the mail, saying that it's up. Happened to me with stories of other authors in the last couple of days too, so...guess there's a little problem with ffnet. Hope none of you missed the freckle counting and Oz showing up in chapter 14 ;)

* * *

CHAPTER SIXTEEN -- THE 'SCENT' OF CHANGE

The phone rang repeatedly, but no one seemed to hear it or seemed to be willing to answer the call. After three more rings, a tape started and soon a voice could be heard.

_#Hey, this is Oz speaking. I'm not in right now, so if it's important, leave a message after the beep and I'll call back#_

A relatively long message for the otherwise taciturn man, but it was exactly as long as it needed to be to get the point of the whole thing across.

"Hey, Oz…it's me," the distinct voice of a redhead, hesitant and a little shaky, filled the silence of the room. "I-I just wanted to see if you're maybe back already, since it's Sunday now and you said that you'd maybe be back by now, so…"

A figure with a guitar in his hands sat on a desk, staring out of a window. He didn't play the guitar right now; maybe he had done it a minute ago, maybe they were just looking for something to hold onto.

"But…I figure, since it's your machine, you're probably not back yet." There was a pause, before the voice continued, a little bit of apprehension showing, "Call me when you come back? O-Or hopefully I'll see you in school next week…Bye."

The call was disconnected and Oz continued to stare, with no emotion showing on his face.

* * *

Willow put down the earpiece with a sigh. This wasn't how she had wanted this call to go. One, she had hoped Oz would be there; two, what she had said just seemed so very redundant and pointless…

And that's even after she had thought about it and practiced it for almost half a day. Ever since she had woken up this morning, alone.

She had figured she should use this opportunity to sort out her situation with Oz somewhat.

It's not like she had wanted to tell him all about it over the phone, she was just wanted to prepare him for the possibility that something might not be quite right at the moment.

Which it wasn't.

She didn't like this. Doing this, going behind his back. He deserved to know about what had happened last week. Not in detail, but he deserved to know that something had changed.

But getting in contact with him hadn't really worked just now, and she didn't know if that made her glad or depressed her more. True, part of her was relieved that he hadn't been there, since she didn't know if she had managed to tell him what she had wanted to tell him, which was…no, she couldn't remember. It was just as if the words she had wanted to use had fled her mind as soon as she had heard Oz's machine pick up. Another part of her was miserable, since now she had to wait longer to get this out of her system.

Did she even want Oz to call her back? She would probably fall apart if he called and inquired what she had wanted in the first place. Her making the first step was easier, since then she knew it would happen now, at a very specific point of time, chosen by her. If he called, it could be in a moment she wasn't prepared to talk to him at all.

Maybe it would be best to not be here when he called…

She looked towards the front door, contemplating her next move. While doing so, her eyes landed on something she had almost forgotten.

Faith's denim jacket. Hanging on the rack, just like it belonged here. And maybe it did.

She didn't know why Faith had chosen the leather jacket when she left her house yesterday to go and meet Buffy. She could as well have taken the other one. Pulling on both of them would have been funny – would have given Buffy some food for thought, about why a girl used to cold Boston winters would feel the need to wear two jackets in a relatively warm night in springtime SUNNYdale.

Naturally she had to think about the slayers' last night patrol and about how she hadn't heard of Faith since yesterday. God, she missed her. Was it normal to miss someone this much after one week? One week of which about seventy per cent didn't even count?

She took Faith's jacket from the rack and walked over to the couch. Cradling it in her arms, she brought her face down to it and took a light sniff.

It smelled a little dusty and of cheap detergent. But underneath was the scent of Faith. It practically smelled of bodily warmth, though it hadn't been worn in over a day. And there was the sweet, yet musky perfume, which she had inhaled first hand – or is that first nose? – last weekend.

Willow smiled. Yeah, that was Faith.

And hopefully the jacket left behind was a sign that the slayer would be back some time in the near future.

* * *

Joyce walked to the front door when she heard a knock. She opened it to find the young witch standing on the porch.

"Hi, Mrs. Summers," Willow greeted cheerily.

"Oh, hi, honey," Joyce smiled and motioned for the redhead to come inside. "Did you need something from Buffy? Because she is not here right now."

"Oh." Willow replied as she followed Joyce into the kitchen. "That's okay." Buffy wasn't exactly the reason she had come here; though she didn't mind spending a little time with her best friend. She had just needed to get out of the house; to not be there, in case Oz called and/or to get away from Faith's jacket. Carrying it around for hours and sniffing occasionally definitely qualified her as crazy.

Not that she had done that. But maybe she would have, if she hadn't left.

And 'fleeing' to the Summers' house left her with the opportunity to see if the others really had bought the demon story.

"She and Faith should be back soon. You can help me make dinner, if you want to."

"Faith was here?" Willow asked and tried to keep the tremble out of her voice. Joyce went back to cutting the lettuce.

"Oh, yes, she was, yesterday. And, oh, she almost gave me a heart attack."

"'Heart attack'?" Willow wasn't really surprised when she heard this. After what she and Faith had talked about yesterday, she knew that Joyce could have been worried.

"Well, Buffy stopped by her motel room yesterday, and she told me something about an attack and that Faith was missing. I haven't been that nervous in a long…But then, a couple of hours later she showed...some injuries, but nothing major."

"I'm sure she didn't mean to worry you," Willow ventured, almost feeling sorry for Joyce.

"I know. And I'm probably just too mom-ish...," the blonde smiled and put down the knife. "I wanted her to spend the night; I didn't…don't think she should be in that room, if it really looks as bad as Buffy has said. But…well, you know how Faith is," Joyce's lips tightened briefly, and Willow knew what she meant. Faith was not one to ask for help voluntarily. And if offered – she would not accept it, in most cases. "But I made her promise to come over for dinner."

"Well, that's good," Willow nodded vigorously, happy that Faith had at least agreed to _this_ – she knew that, secretly, Faith enjoyed how Joyce was treating her – and also because that meant she would get to see her again soon.

"Do you want to take over?" Joyce asked and pointed to the lettuce.

"Sure," Willow replied, walked around the counter and took the knife from Joyce.

The blonde squeezed her shoulder affectionately and smiled. Then Buffy's mom went to the stove and looked after the rice and the paprika sauce that were simmering there in peaceful companionship.

"So, where are Buffy and Faith now?" Willow asked after a while.

"Oh, they are at Ripper's...," Joyce noticed her slip and tried to cover it quickly, "...Rupert's! I mean Giles's...Mr. Giles," she laughed nervously in Willow's direction, then turned around again quickly and stirred the sauce vigorously, trying to hide her blush. "They said they would be meeting with a Mr. Finch? Isn't that the name of the Deputy Mayor?" she changed the topic.

Willow had noticed Joyce's slip as well, but decided to ignore it. It was better to answer Joyce's question, anyway. "Uh, yeah, it is. And...," she stopped. _Has Buffy told her about the Mayor and the Ascension?_ She put down her knife. "Mrs. Summers, do you know...about the Mayor?"

"Buffy told me about it," Joyce confirmed. "At first I wouldn't believe her, of course. He seems like a nice man...," she turned towards Willow with her arms crossed and shook her head.

"I know. It's hard to believe."

"Of course, now I understand why he got 98 of the votes in last year's election. He has a deal with the devil."

"Oh...," Willow thought about it. Maybe even literally speaking... "I didn't even think about that until now. But I guess you're right..." _Why do I suddenly get the strange urge to research weird election results from all over the world...?_ Willow shook this thought out of her head. "Anyway, Mr. Finch is working with us now. He's sort of a double Agent/secret Agent for us. Gives us the information we need to eventually defeat the Mayor."

"That's good. Let's just hope that the Mayor doesn't find out about it." Joyce took the turkey baster and opened the door of the stove.

"What do you have in there?" Willow asked and came over.

"Chicken, two of them. You know slayers. You can never have too much food," she trickled some of the drippings over the poultry. "But as long they leave a part of the chicken breasts for me, I'm okay."

"Oh, I love breasts!" the redhead blurted immediately. Joyce faced her and Willow turned a lovely shade of red. She laughed nervously. "...That came out wrong…"

Willow quickly went back to preparing the salad, wishing for the blood to leave her cheeks again any time soon. She couldn't help but wonder if that sentence had always sounded so weird.

* * *

A little while later they had set the table, put the salad and some bread already on it, and were sitting in the kitchen, chatting, waiting for Faith and Buffy to come home.

They had talked a little bit about last week. Buffy had told her mom that Willow wasn't feeling good and Joyce now took the opportunity to ask her about it. Willow made up a believable story and Buffy's mom was okay with it, but told her that if she ever needed anyone to talk, she'd be happy to listen.

After thinking about it shortly the redhead then told her about her problems with Oz, not in detail, though, and she also left out the reason that really had made her think about her relationship with him lately.

Just as Willow had told her about her decision to end her relationship with him, and Joyce, stunned, yet understanding, was about to reply something, the front door opened and two chatting slayers came walking in.

Buffy hung their jackets on the coat rack as Faith walked through the dining room and inspected the table "Four plates? Do we have another guest?" she asked Buffy's mom. Willow's heart leapt when she heard the slayer's voice. One second later, a face peeped around the doorframe of the kitchen and saw Willow. "Oh, Will, hi!" her face lit up visibly. "This is unexpected." She suppressed the urge to run over and take Willow into her arms. Instead, she just stood there, near the kitchen entrance, and looked at Willow...and looked...and looked...

Willow herself didn't do anything else; she had the same goofy expression on her face as Faith did. Joyce's eyes moved from one girl to the other, as if she were watching a tennis match. She opened her mouth to ask something but Buffy interrupted her.

"Four plates?" she asked from the dining room. "Do we have another guest?" She came into the kitchen and almost bumped into Faith. "Oh, Will, hi!" her face lit up, not as much as Faith's had done earlier, but still. "This is unexpected."

The strangely charged atmosphere that had inhibited the room seconds ago was suddenly forgotten. Willow and Joyce just looked at each other and started to laugh. Even Faith couldn't suppress her amused grin. Buffy looked from Willow to Joyce to Faith and back to Willow again, looking majorly confused. She hadn't overhead the earlier – identical –exchange, obviously.

"What?!"

* * *

Buffy had gone upstairs to slip into something more fighting-appropriate; she and Faith wanted to go slaying after dinner.

Faith and Willow helped Joyce some more with the preparations. Then Joyce told them to wait in the living room for a couple of minutes and that she could take care of the rest herself.

Willow led the way and Faith followed her, a few seconds later, casually, almost lazily, as if she didn't even want to spend some alone time with Willow. But, of course, once they were out of Joyce's ear- and 'eye'shot, she rushed towards her redhead, who was already sitting in the armchair, waiting for her with a big grin on her face.

"Red, what are _you_ doing here?" Faith almost squeaked un-Faith-like in delight.

"Aren't you happy to see me?" Willow replied in mock seriousness and watched as Faith planted her butt on one of the armrest and halfway threw her legs over Willow's lap. Why she hadn't decided to sit on her lap right away, was a miracle to the grinning redhead.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Faith grabbed Willow's face and planted a firm kiss on her lips. "Wanted to do this since I got here." She kissed her again. "Hi."

"Hi," Willow smiled and put her arm around Faith's back.

After a few moments, Willow got a hold of the brunette's right hand and inspected it. There was not a trace of her former injuries left.

"Looks great," Willow said.

"Well, yeah, thanks to you," Faith replied and covered Willow's hand, which was still around her right one with her currently free hand. "Can't believe that it's only been a day since I saw you last..."

_Only_ a day was not how Willow would have put it. It had definitely been too long.

"You know, I wanted to call you last night...I even walked straight to a phone booth and stuff, since, you know, my phone is… 'disconnected'," Faith informed her and Willow got a _why-didn't-you?_ expression on her face. "...but then I realized…I didn't have your..."

"Number! Oh, no..." Willow thumped her head against Faith's chest in exasperation. "I'm a dumbass."

"Hey, hey," Faith chastised her, "no one says that about my girl." She grinned. "But if you do need to call yourself that...then you have to call me dumbass, too. I forgot to ask."

"Dumbass," Willow did her this favor.

"Hey!" Faith replied mock-offended. Willow made up for it by kissing Faith again. "And, besides, I had a little something of you with me, anyway. Was all good. Guess I'm not _that_ much of a dumbass…"

Willow looked a bit puzzled. What did Faith have of hers? And why did this thing negate her status as 'dumbass'?

"Your scent's on my jacket," Faith grinned, explaining.

"Oh…," Willow was on the way of getting it, "…oh!" There it was. And suddenly she thought back to her little incident with Faith's other jacket earlier on. "Is that why you…took the leather one and not the denim one yesterday?" she finally understood Faith's ingenious scheme. The denim one wouldn't have had Willow's scent on it.

Weird parallels. Though Willow didn't know if 'your scent's on my jacket' implied more than just 'm slayer senses picked up on it while I was wearing it'. The thought of Faith 'thinking' of her that way, however, was still sweet.

Willow didn't tell Faith that she, indeed, _had_ smelled Faith's jacket. Since she didn't know if Faith really had, this info might just gross her out.

"So, everything okay in your room?" Willow finally asked, voicing another issue on her mind.

"Well, clean-up was successful. But of course there's still the demolished bedside table and the big hole in the wall that's to deal with...," Faith shrugged.

"We'll think of something," Willow said decidedly.

"You and your busy little head, huh?" Faith remarked and tapped Willow's temple.

Willow grinned. "Yeah." But then she got a more serious expression on her face. "And my head's so busy that it spent most of today thinking about..." she sighed, "...I called Oz today. Because, you know, I figured he might be home already."

"Oh?" Faith cringed when she saw the distressed look. "What did he say?"

"Nothing. He didn't answer it. He's probably not back yet."

"I'm sorry," Faith replied, cupping Willow's cheek, and the redhead leaned into her touch. "You...you wanted to tell him, right?" she asked nervously.

"Uh-hm," Willow nodded. "It's not fair - we going around behind his back. Not fair to him...," she took Faith's hands into both of hers. "...not fair to you."

Faith pulled Willow into her arms. "I love you," she whispered into her ear.

Willow returned the hug. "I lo..."

"Okay, guys!" Buffy came running down the stairs. The couple jumped apart quickly, Faith jumping off of Willow and Willow scrambling to her feet. The blonde slayer peeked into the dining room; when she didn't find her friends there she walked into the living room. "Ah, there you are. Ready to eat? I'm starving."

"Hm-mm," the two girls squeaked out and followed the blonde.

_to be continued..._


	17. A déjà vu with a twist

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the because of...what do you call this again...oh, right, "life"! ;)  
**Thanks to: **My lovely betas Wil-Lehane- and K  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

* * *

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN -- A DÉJÀ VU WITH A TWIST

The slayers didn't talk about their meeting with Finch during dinner. Joyce might know about the Mayor's involvement with the dark forces, but Buffy thought that it was better if she was not in on the details, just because she didn't want her to worry too much.

Instead they talked about another thing Joyce had had no clue about until then. Vampire doppelgängers. Joyce listened attentively and almost disbelievingly. 'Strange' didn't even begin to cover what she thought about this situation.

The conversation eventually led Buffy to asking why Faith had reacted in the way she had, when she had seen 'dead' Willow. After a long pause of thinking about it, during which Willow intently poked at her chicken breast, Faith finally made up a rather far-fetched story, about how she had been on patrol Thursday night and had let that one vampire escape…that then might have succeeded in biting someone. A Willow-someone, maybe, because, you know, you never know, maybe there was a reason why Willow had been out late that night…

Buffy just shrugged, accepting the story. Rather unlikely theory, yet still possible.

* * *

After dinner, Willow, Faith and Buffy get ready to leave. The slayers slipped on their jackets.

"I'll bring Willow home and...," Buffy decided, "you can go to the Restfield cemetery, see if there's any trouble, and we'll meet there later," she said to Faith.

"No!" Faith said, too loud, too forceful. Buffy looked at her confused. "Sorry. I mean...I...can I come with?"

"Okay...," Buffy replied, wondering about the brunette's behavior. At first funny theories and now this. Faith fumbled her long mane out of her jacket and hoped to hide her blush with that action.

Willow just stood beside Joyce, with a mixture of embarrassment, amazement and delight on her face. Buffy's mom observed this scene with growing suspicion.

* * *

They had walked for a few minutes, when Willow started to shiver. It had cooled down significantly since she had showed at Buffy's doorsteps two hours before. Buffy, who was waking on her right side, noticed it. "Are you cold?"

"Just a little," Willow smiled.

"Oh!" Faith tried to pull off her leather jacket quickly, too quickly. She entangled in the sleeves. "Hold on…," Buffy watched amused, as she pulled a little more and eventually succeeded. "There."

She walked behind Willow and helped her into the jacket; Willow's shoulders slumped a bit due to the weight.

"Thanks," Willow smiled over her shoulder. Faith's hand dropped to Willow's back where it lingered a little while as Faith walked up to the redhead's left side again.

Almost immediately, Willow felt the slayer's body heat creep into her skin. She sighed contently and Faith just edged closer, taking her hand, without Buffy noticing it.

Great déjà vu. Willow wouldn't mind wearing Faith's leather jacket for the rest on her life. And Faith didn't mind either. Plus, in both cases, the lending of the jacket had been justified. Right now, Willow was cold, yesterday her sweater had been bloody.

"So, anyway, then Finch gave us some files that might be of interest," Buffy continued Faith's explanation. "Some of it on encrypted disks; I guess that'd be a job for you."

"Oh, that's great!..." Willow said elatedly and then stopped; she looked from one slayer to the other, both stared at her with raised eyebrows "I just sounded way too excited, didn't I?"

Faith squeezed her hand affectionately. "Nah, it's cool," she said. "You should have seen how excited B got when Wimpy...Wesley brought this bag full of battle axes into the library. I thought she was gonna faint right there," Faith teased the blonde.

"You're one to talk, Missy!" Buffy retorted. "Your obsession with knives is abnormal. You should get that checked..."

Faith stuck out her tongue at Buffy, the blonde returned the gesture. Willow just looked back and forth between them and rolled her eyes eventually.

Bringing Willow home took much less time than the redhead and the brunette slayer had anticipated. Reluctantly Willow gave back the leather jacket and the fact that her hands lingered on Faith's longer than necessary when she did so was no coincidence.

Faith looked back at Willow as this one closed the door slowly. A slight wave was all she managed to do. She had wanted to kiss her goodbye or at least hug her. But Buffy might have gotten a _little_ suspicious by the show of affection.

But at least she could feel Willow's warmth on her jacket and smell that unique Willow-smell again. Plus she knew for certain that she would see her redhead tomorrow.

* * *

The next day, just before class, the two slayers made their way towards the school. 9 am was not normally a time of day for Faith to be up, but today was different. Today was the day of the psych evaluations – and just thinking about it gave her the wiggins. She had decided to make an early appearance in the library; maybe she could squeeze some info out of Giles or Wesley about those tests.

"How's your hand?" Faith asked her companion as they entered the school. They had gotten into a fight with some vampires on last night's patrol; one of them had nearly gotten the upper hand in a struggle with Buffy and had managed to drag his razor-sharp fingernails across the back of her hand.

Buffy looked down at her haphazard bandage "Hm, itches a little. I'll change the bandage once we get to the library."

"Your mom freak?"

"Nah, she didn't see it yet," Buffy grinned. "And she's seen worse. Remember my Cruciamentum?"

"Cruci-huh?" the brunette asked a little confused.

"That thing where the Council tried to kill me and mom on my eighteenth birthday," the little slayer explained the (true) matter at hand, not without venom in her voice.

"Right, right," Faith remembered Buffy's battered condition and what she had heard about Joyce being held captive. "And sorry I wasn't here for that. I would've thrashed that Travers guy for you. Doesn't matter how old he is." She balled her fist and slammed it into the palm of her other hand.

"You're sweet," Buffy laughed. "But, uh, next time you plan to take off for a couple of days, tell me first, okay? I really could have needed you."

"Word of honor," Faith pledged seriously, "and don't worry. I think I won't take off for a while. Sunny-D is starting to feel like home."

They rounded the corner to the corridor that lead up to the library. "It is?" Buffy asked surprised. She had never heard Faith talk about any place as if it was home. Not even Boston._ Or should I say 'Certainly not Boston'?_

"Mm-hm," Faith nodded and smirked.

"Good, good," Buffy smiled in her turn. "But you know what I wonder? Now that you know about the Cruciamentum...," the little blonde scrunched her eyebrows, "will they put you through it, too? I mean, it would be kind of meaningless, with you knowing about it and all..."

"Huh. Good question," Faith said, "Well, one year and nine months till then. I guess I'll just jump off that bridge when...if I come to it...," she shrugged.

"Or maybe they'll brainwash you and make you forget that you know about it…When's your psych test thingie? Today? Maybe that's just a ploy for doing exactly that." Buffy grinned nastily.

"Great. Thanks, B. Now I'm even more creeped-out than before…"

They pushed open the library doors and saw Willow sitting at the big wooded table, working concentrated on her laptop. She hadn't heard the slayers come in. Faith gave Buffy a sign to stay back and walked up behind the redhead. She leaned over her shoulder and read "'Demonic influence on the political matters throughout the ages'...Get out! You can find stuff like that on the net!?"

Willow let out a startled yelp and turned her head to look at the intruder. "Faith! My God...don't do that...,"

"Sorry. But it was fun," Faith grinned.

"For you, maybe," Willow pouted. "I could think of something that's much more fun for me...," Faith anticipated the move of Willow's hand and quickly pulled away, before Willow's hand could even remotely make contact with any part of her body. Faith straightened up and cleared her throat, moving her eyes at the same time, indicating that they are not alone.

Only now, Willow noticed Buffy, who was standing near the counter. "Oh, like...like..." Willow stuttered out, trying to think of something; but then she saw Buffy's hand. "What happened?"

"Hello to you, too, Will," Buffy greeted and came over to the table.

"You know what, I'm gonna leave you two alone for a bit," Faith said. "Is Giles here already?" she asked Willow.

"Oh, I think he's in Central America right now," Willow informed her. Off Faith's desperately-confused look she added, "Fifth row from the back," she pointed over to the stacks, "Books on Central America."

Faith smirked, "Very funny, h...Will," she patted Willow's shoulder and disappeared into the stacks. _Honey?_

Buffy shook her head and sat down on the table, feet dangling. "You two seem to be hitting it off lately, huh?"

"What?! Hitting it off?" Willow head whipped around to face Buffy. "Oh, no...w-we..."

"Relax, I'm kidding."

"Oh," Willow laughed nervously.

"Seriously, though…is it me or is she growing soft?" Buffy furrowed her brow. "I mean, last night…I swear, that thing with the jacket…"

"You're just sulking because she was faster than you," Willow replied expertly with a wink. True, probably because of her, Faith was growing soft – fast! – but that it had already gotten to the point, where other people noticed it too…? Maybe they should be worried about that.

"Well, anyway, I called her on it while we were patrolling, and she punched my arm for it – to demonstrate that she wasn't a 'softie'. Huh, guess I shouldn't have called her that, really," she rubbed her arm, which actually hurt more than her hand. Slayer-sized punch and all.

Willow noticed the movement. _'Softie'?_ "See? Told you one of these days your mouth would get you into trouble," she smirked.

She ignored the jab. So, what are you researching?" Buffy asked and looked at the screen.

"Oh, just a thought Mom...your mom brought up yesterday. We talked about the election results from last year and how Wilkins got 98 . Can't be right. And I was about to research similar occurrences in different times and countries."

"Oh, that's interesting. Found out anything so far?"

"Nothing much, I just started. But...," Willow looked at Buffy's hand. The bandage was not blood-drenched, just some small red dots could be seen, but still. "You want me to redress your hand?"

"Cool, thanks, Will," Buffy smiled as Willow got up to retrieve the first-aid kit from behind the counter.

"So, again, what happened?"

"Ah, it's no big, just a stupid vampire who got lucky. You know how it is. Nothing to worry about," Buffy reassured her.

"Regular day at work, then," Willow grinned and cut off the bandage.

"Pretty much."

* * *

Oz walked along the corridor, on his way to the library. After Willow's call yesterday, he had gone over to Devon's, to work with him on new songs. He had hoped that this would take his mind off of what he had seen at Willow's house on Saturday. It hadn't. But it had given him some inspiration for lyrics.

He stopped at the library doors and looked through one of the windows. He saw Willow, sitting in a chair at the table, tending to Buffy's injured hand. Willow was telling her blonde friend something funny and this one was looking at her with a smile.

His eyes zoomed in on Buffy's hand. Injured and in the way of getting redressed. His mind went back to the scene in Willow's living room and the mysterious hand he had seen. A hand which had been kissed by Willow – possibly among other bodily parts. A hand whose owner's identity hadn't gotten revealed back then.

But now…

Oz turned around and walked away, his face unreadable. _Buffy?_

_to be continued..._


	18. Psych Out

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the because of...what do you call this again...oh, right, "life"! ;)  
**Thanks to: **My lovely betas Wil-Lehane- and K  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

* * *

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN -- PSYCH OUT

After their second class for the day, the blonde slayer and her best friend walked along one of the corridors of Sunnydale High. They laughed about something that couldn't be heard if you weren't walking right next to them.

Buffy's arm was around Willow's shoulders and this one gesticulated with her arms. When they passed by the library, the door opened and Faith stepped out, accompanying them. Together they walked towards the schoolyard.

Oz observed all this from a safe spot, unnoticed by the girls.

* * *

It was 11 AM on the dot and Faith was sitting nervously on a chair in an office in a building about ten minutes away from Sunnydale High. The office was not big, but not small either, a few flowers lessened the sterile feeling of the room a little.

Giles's reassuring words and Willow's encouraging squeeze of her arm when they had parted had helped to set her mind at ease – but not enough for her to not to fear that she would screw up terribly. And B and Will's joking earlier – about Willow's permanently-absentee parents, about them leading a secret life and possibly being involved in the Council's psychiatrical activities – didn't really sit good with her. Because that was not the way she wanted to meet her honey's parents for the first time... _I…want to meet my honey's parents? And when did I start calling her 'honey', anyway?_

She knew that the 'Rosenbergs-as-Council-shrinks' scenario was less than likely, but still – she couldn't help but "investigate" the shrink's identity a little. His helpful receptionist told her that he was in his 60 and had three sons living in London with his wife. Of course, that could be a web of lies, but Faith had decided to believe her for now – the friendly middle-aged lady seemed trust-worthy enough.

The name on his nameplate read "A.H. Caulfield", at the wall near the window she saw a diploma from Oxford University. _Albert H. Caulfield. Graduated Summa Cum Laude. 1972._

_Of course that can be fake, too...and maybe the nice lady didn't tell me the truth after all..._Faith shook her head, looking for a way to finally get her mind off of that topic.

Looking around some more might help her.

Apart from the desk, the diploma, a couple of chairs and the few little plants there was not really much to be seen in the room. _Not even one of those funny cliché couches... _Her eyes wandered back to the shrink's desk where she noticed nothing much except for a small lamp and some little sculptures. _Modern art, huh?_ She tilted her head to get a better look at the two forms. One – a tilted cylindrical object with two little cubes on its sides, the other simply two little unequally shaped spheres._ Okay, might be my weird brain, but that looks a little bit like..._

But before she had time to finish her thought, the door opened and presumably Dr. Caulfield walked in. A rather short, lean man with grey-ish-black hair, full beard and glasses. _At least he hasn't got red hair_, Faith thought as she sat up straighter in her chair and watched him as he walked over to his chair. He didn't seem to notice her sitting there as he put a thick file down on the desk and sat down. He opened it and smoothed down the top piece of paper with the sleeve of his checkered jacket – even though there was no sign of it being creased. After that, he opened a drawer, pulled out three pencils and put them on the right side of the folder. When he saw that one of them was slightly longer than the other two, he took a pencil sharpener out of the drawer and shortened it. Then he put the little offender next to his companions.

After checking again if the pencils were the same size and lay in the correct position, he straightened the folder one last time before he turned his attention towards Faith, who had observed all this with a critical eye.

He smiled a friendly smile. "Well, Miss Le..."

"Faith's just fine," she interrupted him. Being addressed with her last name always made her feel as if she was 80 years old. Old-Spinster-80, that'd be, probably. But this was just one reason for her preferring not to be called by her last name.

He blinked briefly, maybe a little astonished, before he said, "Very well, 'Faith'." He nodded and picked up the pencil nearest to him. _Uh-oh, guess that was mistake numero uno_, Faith thought to herself. On second thought, he put the pencil down again and Faith was about to heave a little sigh of relieve, only to now having to notice that he decided on the middle pencil instead and scribbled down something in his folder. "Are there any special relations to your…uh, name?"

Faith shrugged, not even having to lie when she told him, "My mom gave it to me..." _Not sure what she had in mind when she did it, though_. She looked at him expectantly, thinking she knew what he would ask her next and mentally preparing for questions about the woman she had lived with the first years of her life.

But, to her surprise, he decided on something else. "Do you believe in God?"

_Okay, didn't see that coming...no, wait, I did. My fault, anyway. That's what you gotta expect when you're… wearing that name. Or jokes that involve George Michael... _"I...uh...well, let's put it this way – I don't really believe in anything I can't see."

"Interesting," he said in his distinct British voice and nodded. He reached out and pushed the two remaining pencils closer together.

_Could you stop doing that, please!? It's making me all nervous_, Faith scrunched her eyebrows as she watched him.

As if he had read her mind, he stopped bothering with the pencils and faced her again. "So, you are 16 years old, yes?"

Faith was not quite sure what she should make of this realization. "And your point being...," she blurted out a little harsher than intended. She cringed slightly.

Caulfield didn't seem to take it the wrong way and explained. "Your life has been very eventful so far..." he said, flipping through her file. "...not many people at your age have a record like this." From his tone, Faith couldn't really tell what exactly he was thinking, though she had a clue.

As long as he didn't voice any pity for her or anything, he could think whatever he wanted, for all she cared.

"There is one part of this file that I find rather interesting," he flipped to the sheet of paper in question and looked at her with his gentle grey eyes, "you seem to be a very bright girl, Faith." She noticed an outline of her academic 'career' in front of him. "Exceptionally good grades, teachers say that you worked hard and diligently, but had problems in collaborating with others. You preferred to keep to yourself...nonetheless or maybe because of that...and despite noticeably many sick days," he looked at her softly and she just knew that he knew the reason behind this, "you were always among the best of your class - for years."

"That was elementary and junior high...," Faith shrugged this, and the empathy from Caulfield, off, "not really hard to be good."

"There were 300 people in your class – you belonged to the best." Confronted with this, Faith sighed. She wished that he wouldn't talk about her school career – she herself wished it would have ended differently. A few years later for example. "You had quite a future ahead of you."

_I 'had'? He's talking about this as if I'm dead...but I guess he's right, that ship has sailed off without me_. "Yeah, I guess," she couldn't do much else except agree.

"Do you sometimes wish that you could go back to school?"

"Sometimes, sure," _no reason to deny this_. "But at the moment...I think there're more important things to do for me."

"Like slaying?"

"For example," Faith nodded. _For example._

They continued to talk for about ten more minutes, mostly about her slaying activities and if and how they had changed her life. They talked about her watchers, and how she felt or had felt about working with them. He didn't inquire about her family life and Faith figured that he probably knew the answers to possible questions. During the whole process, he didn't let go of his pencil once, even though he didn't make any further notes. He just played with the item, letting it wander over his fingers, rolling it between the thumbs and middle fingers of his hands, tapping the eraser on the table. Faith tried to block it out as much as possible. _Nervous tick. He should get that looked at_, she grinned to herself.

* * *

It was around noon and the halls of Sunnydale High were naturally busy.

The young man stored his books in his locker and shut the door soon after. Turning around, he walked into the general direction of the cafeteria. His fourth class of the day had just ended, he had fifth period free.

He stopped briefly when he saw a blonde and a redhead walking in his direction, not yet noticing him.

Something akin to jealousy or simply hurt threatened to show in his eyes for the fraction of a second, but he continued to walk. Not knowing why. Maybe to make his presence known.

Certainly not because he thought just standing in the middle of the hall around and stare ahead of him would seem pretty weird to anyone passing him by.

He didn't care what other thought about him, really.

He kept on walking and eventually the girls noticed him. He observed the redhead's look, which for him came close to a deer caught in headlights.

The blonde looked at him in a normal way, almost neutral, so he thought. She then smiled briefly and waved her hand in greeting, before for a split second touching the redhead's arm and walking down another hall, probably heading for the next class. He could hear her utter something like, "I'll save you a desk," before she disappeared fully.

The two redheads, one male, one female, approached each other. And it all seemed to happen painfully slow.

When they were finally there, Willow had done most of the walking, they didn't really know how to go about this situation. Oz observed the expression on Willow's face closely; he couldn't tell if she could read something in his face, could see that he might knew something is up.

She simply looked upset. Anxious. Regardless of what she might be able to read in his face.

It tore his heart apart.

He couldn't handle to see her suffer. Even if…she again, possibly…probably… was betraying him, and even though he knew should be mad at her, and partly even was…he still felt for her.

Compassion.

But he also wondered why. No, not why did he feel for her? Why did this happen…again. And from what he had seen today and two days ago, he knew it had happened again. Thought he knew. Nothing he had seen had been really explicit, but it was also too explicit to shrug it off as unimportant.

"Hi," he finally stated. Opened his arms as an automatic invite for her.

She didn't reply anything and faltered for a moment, before stepping into his embrace. Hugging him first tentatively, then more firmly.

Despite his confusing thoughts and feelings right now, he enjoyed the embrace nevertheless.

There was something about Willow that simply makes you want to hug her. It's like not having a will of your own.

But then it was Willow, who broke the hold and resumed looking at him. She really wanted to say something more eloquent, but only a soft, "Hey," came out.

When he felt that nothing else would follow this, possibly for a long time, he decided to start

the conversation, which was unusual for him.

But he felt that he needed to do it. Because he wanted to help her. And also because he wanted certainty. And maybe more.

"I got your call…," he stated, and she briefly looked startled, before nodding slowly. "Sorry, we came home late last night. I didn't wanna wake you," he lied.

She didn't have to know that he had been there when she had called. And that he deliberately hadn't called back.

"Oh," Willow replied and looked a little more relieved. Maybe she had wanted to hear something like this. But then the expression changed again and she bit her lips.

"Is everything okay?" he inquired eventually, knowing that it wasn't. But anything like 'So, how was your week?'…he wasn't up for this right now. Though this way he might have gotten Willow to make the first step in explaining this situation to him.

But this way it would also happen, would happen much more likely, since now Willow was basically cornered…thanks to him. Maybe he should not have asked that, he thought briefly.

"I…," she hesitated, stalling by looking about. The hall, still full of people walking by, chatting amicably, laughing, fooling around. Was this the place where a conversation like this should take place? "No," she stated curtly. "It's…I…there's something I have to tell you," her voice croaked, but at least it had managed to at least say something.

"I…," no, she couldn't do this. Not here.

Oz had to fight the urge to take her into his arms again. He himself didn't know how to go on about a situation like this one. The last time around, they hadn't had the talk. Because he had seen it all and she knew he had seen it.

This time he had seen it, but she didn't know that.

She let out a sigh and avoided eye-contact. "Look…there's something I have to tell you," she repeated, "but…can we maybe…go somewhere else? Or meet later…? I don't know, after class, maybe?"

"I could meet you tonight if you want to. At your house?"

"Okay…good," she nodded, still a little more relaxed. Maybe this would buy her some more time to think about how to actually phrase what had happened.

"Okay." He noticed the hall was getting emptier and knew the next class would probably begin soon. "Look, I don't want you to be late," he motioned to the hall Buffy…Buffy…had disappeared into.

"Right," she replied thankful and leaned in to…actually she had wanted to give him a small kiss on the cheek, but in the end found herself unable to do so. It ended up being a light brush of cheek against cheek.

Oz's eyes followed her, as she left for class. "Right…" Had he let her off the hook too easily? No… Now he had affirmation that something was up. And come tonight he would know even more. Probably more than he wanted to.

He turned around and walked towards the exit.

He suddenly didn't feel hungry anymore.

_to be continued..._

* * *

**A/N: **Just in case you wonder - yes, I used the name "Caulfield" on purpose, specifically referring to Emma. And "A.H." stands for Aly Hannigan. Why those two? Well, they both studied psychology at some point, so I thought it'd be funny :P


	19. Get Smart

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. Thank you all for these characters! Parts of the story line and dialogue taken from the episode "Doppelgängland". No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the because of...what do you call this again...oh, right, "life"! ;)  
**Thanks to: **My lovely betas Wil-Lehane- and K  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

**A/N: **Yay, over 10.000 reads! But reads doesn't say anything about the quality of a story, so I seriously hope I'm not boring you too much with all these seemingly pointless chapters... ? They're all in there for a reason, you know ;)

* * *

CHAPTER NINETEEN -- GET SMART

After their little interview, Caulfield sent Faith off to another room, but not before asking why she had been eyeing the sculptures on his desk every once in a while and what she saw in them, which brought a lovely shade of red to Faith's cheeks.

In the room down the hall, she was greeted by a man in his 30s, with brown hair and blue eyes, a faint Scottish accent. He introduced himself as Mel Bruce. _Huh, almost like that comedy guy...just different._ Different in a lot of things. More stuffy – on a scale of stuffiness probably somewhere between Wesley and Giles. Wesley being the top of the scale.

He handed her a booklet, a psychological test, about twenty-five pages thick, and motioned her to sit down at a small desk in the barren, small room. She did so and saw three pencils with identical length lying in front of her. _You gotta be kidding me... _Ignoring it, she opened her booklet and took the pencil nearest to her in her hand. When she looked up, she saw that Mel had settled in behind the other desk across the room. Inwardly he seemed to cringe at her choice of pencil. She gave him a warning look and he quickly averted his eyes, attending to some forms in front of him.

She herself turned her attention towards her "little" booklet and remembered what Mel had told her a couple of minutes ago. _Questions with 'True' or 'False' option. No wrong answers possible. Can leave questions unanswered that I can't answer properly. 90 minutes time.Hallelujah..._She flipped to the first page of questions and began her test.

1. I like mechanics magazines

**-- _True_**

2. I have a good appetite

**--** _**True.** Hey, I'm a slayer!_

3. I wake up fresh & rested most mornings

_Hmm, define 'morning'...Well, I guess it's safe to say **-- True**_

4. I think I would like the work of a librarian

_Why not? I like to read...even though others might think I've never read more than just blurbs or comic books...And I can keep things organized...if I want to._ About to mark the 'True' box she faltered..._oh, hey, is this one of those florist questions?? Hm, heck, I'll say_ **-**_**- True**. One answer won't categorize me as crazy, right...?...Right...??_

5. I am easily awakened by noise

_**-- False**. I sleep like a rock._

6. I like to read newspaper articles on crime

_**-- True.** Sorry, you gotta stay informed._

7. My hands and feet are usually warm enough

**_-- True_**

8. My daily life is full of things that keep me interested

_**-- True**_

9. I am about as able to work as I ever was

_Uh… **-- True**_

10. There seems to be a lump in my throat much of the time

_**-- False**_

11. A person should try to understand his dreams and be guided by or take warning from them

_Hm, from a slayer's perspective... -**-True.** Though I'm still trying to ignore that last one._

12. I enjoy detective or mystery stories

_**-- True.** See above, re: I like to read_

13. I work under a great deal of tension

_Not really **-- False**_

14. I have diarrhea once a month or more

_**-- False.** And hello-o, none of your business..._

15. Once in a while I think of things too bad to talk about

_**-- True.** Don't ask..._

16. I am sure I get a raw deal from life

_Kinda **-- True**. It's getting better, though_

17. My father was a good man

_How the hell should I know!? Don't know him... _She left this question unanswered

18. I am very seldom troubled by constipation

_**-- True**_

19. When I take a new, I like to be tipped off on whom should be gotten next to

_Huh? __**-- True...?** Something missing in that question? Maybe I should ask…no, really don't wanna_

20. My sex life is satisfactory

_**-- True!!** Oh, wait...when was the last time I had sex – not counting last week's lapses...?...Eight days ago...And I'm not even horny. What is Reddie doin' to me?_ _But I guess we didn't have an opportunity to in the last few days, so..._

21. At times I have very much wanted to leave home

_I kinda did leave home so... **-- True**_

22. At times I have fits of laughing & crying that I cannot control

_Not really **-- False**_

23. I am troubled by attacks of nausea and vomiting

_**-- False**_

24. No one seems to understand me

**_-- False_**. Red does, and Joyce, I think, Buffy even.

25. I would like to be a singer

_Another one of those florist questions? Damn, Will should've never told me that. Well, I can't sing, anyway **-- False**_

26. I feel that it is certainly best to keep my mouth shut when I'm in trouble

_**-- True.** Doesn't necessarily mean that I keep my mouth shut, though..._

27. Evil spirits possess me at times

_**-- False**. But everything can happen, slayer-life is pretty eventful..._

28. When someone does me a wrong I feel I should pay him back if I can, just for the principle of the thing.

_Hate to admit it, but **-- True**_

29. I am bothered by stomach acid several times a week

_**-- False**_

30. At times I feel like swearing

_Feel like!? **-- True.** I'm giving in to it far too often..._

31. I have nightmares every few nights

_Prophetic dreams, sure **-- True**_

32. I find it hard to keep my mind on a task or job

_**-- True.** Sometimes_

33. I have had very peculiar and strange experiences

_Uh... **-- True...**_

34. I have a cough most of the time

**_-- False_**

35. If people had not had it in for me I would have been much more successful

_Oh, tough question...guess might be** -- True**_

36. I seldom worry about my health

**_-- True_**

37. I have never been in trouble because of my sex behavior

_Hm... **-- False. **If Red finds out about me and Xander...Should I tell her about it? Better she learns it from me than from someone else, right...? Oh, God, why didn't I think about this until now? I should talk to Xander too..._

38. During one period when I was a youngster I engaged in petty thievery

_**-- True.** Should answer these questions truthfully, right? And they can read it in my record, anyway._

39. At times I feel like smashing things

**_-- True_**

40. Most any time I would rather sit and daydream than to do anything else

**_-- False_**

41. I have had periods of days, weeks, or months when I couldn't take care of things because I couldn't "get going"

**_-- False_**

42. My family does not like the work I have chosen (or the work I intend to choose for my life work)

_"Chosen", that's funny. It did choose me...What family? Drunken (dead) mom or absentee-dad? **-- False**_

43. My sleep is fitful and disturbed

**_-- False_**

44. Much of the time my head seems to hurt all over

**_-- False_**

45. I do not always tell the truth

_**-- True...** Little white lies don't hurt._

46. My judgment is better than it ever was

_**-- True.** I'm getting better_

47. Once a week or oftener I feel suddenly hot all over without apparent cause

**_-- False_**

48. When I am with people I am bothered by hearing very queer things

_**-- False**_

49. It would be better if almost all laws were thrown away

_**-- False**...not all of them, anyway..._

50. My soul sometimes leaves my body

_Guess not...** -- False**_

51. I am in just as good physical health as most of my friends

_**-- True.** Better, even_

52. I prefer to pass by school friends, or people I know but have not seen for a long time, unless they speak to me first

_**-- True**_

53. A minister can cure disease by praying and putting his hand on your head

_Hell, no! _**_-- False_**

54. I am liked by most people who know me

_Wish I could say 'true'...well, 'most'...Except for Cordy and probably soon Oz...Wesley doesn't like me either, right? But that one's mutual **-- True**_

55. I am almost never bothered by pains over the heart or in my chest

**_-- True_**

56. As a youngster I was suspended from school one or more times for cutting up

**_-- True..._**

57. I am a good mixer

_**-- False.** Could be better_

58. Everything is turning out just like the prophets of the Bible said it would

_I'm not much for the Good Book... **-- False**_

59. I have often had to take orders from someone who did not know as much as I did

_**-- True. **Wesley...snicker_

60. I do not read every editorial in the newspaper everyday

_**-- True**_

61. I have not lived the right kind of life

_Kinda__** -- True**_

62. Parts of my body often have feeling like burning, tingling, crawling, or like "going to sleep"

**_-- False_**

63. I have had no difficulty in starting or holding my bowel movement

_**-- True**. Ugh, could we stop with this kind of questions, please?_

64. I sometimes keep on at a thing until others lose their patience with me

_Hehe **-- True**_

65. I loved my father

_I guess... **-- False **...is the correct answer_

66. I see things or animals or people around me that others do not see

_**-- False.** Like what? White mice?_

67. I wish I could be as happy as others seem to be

_No, I AM happy enough at the moment **-- False**_

68. I hardly ever feel pain in the back of the neck

_Unless I get bitten by a vampire, maybe... **-- False**_

69. I am very strongly attracted by members of my own sex

_**-- True.** Especially little cute redheaded ones that can babble themselves silly._

70. I used to like drop-the-handkerchief

_Uh… **-- True.** Used to_

71. I think many people exaggerate their misfortunes in order to gain the sympathy and help of others

_Very **-- True**_

72. I am troubled by discomfort in the pit of my stomach every few days or oftener

_**-- False**_

73. I am an important person

_**-- False**...I guess..._

74. I have often wished I were a girl. (Or if you are a girl) I have never been sorry that I am a girl

**_-- True_**

75. I get angry sometimes

**_-- True_**

She stretched herself and yawned slightly. Looking over at the other desk, she saw that her "guard" had nodded off, chin in one hand, pen – in a poise that looked like as if he was about to write down something – in the other. She looked at the clock on the wall. _75 minutes to go and_, she flipped through her booklet, counting, _381 questions to go. Oh, yay..._

* * *

Seventy minutes and about a hundred neurons later, Faith made her way back to the Sunnydale High campus. She had to wake Mel Brooks._..sorry, Bruce..._up to hand in her test booklet. He had looked pretty flustered due to the fact that she had caught him snoozing off during office hours. _Well, at least some fun to be had._

But the test really got her thinking, mainly about what she should do concerning what happened between her and Xander. Right now, she wished that it had never happened. _Would be cool if I could go back to that day and do it over...uh, no, and not do it over. That thing, and everything that happened last week – except for the weekend(s)_. But since she couldn't do that, she decided on the next best course of action. _Need to talk to Will about that, I wanna make this right. Can't build a relationship...she stopped and frowned at the word...on something like that standing between us..._

She neared the schoolyard and saw two girls, a blonde and a redhead, sitting on a bench, their backs turned towards her. She came closer and the blonde faced her. Of course Buffy's slayer connection had picked up on Faith being nearby. Willow noticed Buffy's smile a little later and turned her face towards the brunette who walked up to the bench, lifted her legs over the backrest and, settling her feet down on the seating surface, sat her butt down on the rest.

"Hey, there. Already recognized my girls from two miles away," Faith greeted as she patted each girl's shoulder nearest to her.

"So, how was it?" Willow asked her and touched her hand briefly with her fingertips. Faith smiled down at the girl that she somehow considered her girlfriend. _Still have to get used to that term..._

Briefly she thought she saw something like misery shining in Willow's eyes, but within one blink it was gone. Faith knew she would try to find out if she had been right…as soon as the two of them were alone. But for now…more upbeat mood was in order.

"Pretty okay, actually. Your dad's nice." Off Willow's and especially Buffy's panicked look, she allayed, "Jokin'. No Rosenbergs involved, as far as I could tell...unless...," she grinned mischievously at Willow, "...someone here _does_ color their hair."

Willow laughed nervously – because of Buffy's presence – and thought back to the...well, "conversation" she and Faith had a week ago about that subject. _It's been a week ago already? More than a week..._She could see in the brunette's eyes that her mind was in the same place as hers.

"Uh...," Buffy interrupted and they snapped out of it. But another thought worked itself into Faith's brain. _Suddenly wonderin' if B's a natural blonde...oh, not 'wondering' in that way!...No, just...forget it..._

"Right, anyway," Faith turned her attention towards Buffy, "just say what you're really thinking and try to be yourself," she recited the advice that Giles had given her earlier, "then you should be okay." She decided not to tell Buffy about the lovely test. _Don't wanna spoil her fun._

Percy approached the threesome, a little bit of apprehension in his step. He first greeted Buffy, the safest of the three girls from his point of view, then Faith, his somewhat-lifesaver-but-only-due-to-the-sole-purpose-of-protecting...the third girl, whom he gave his full attention to. "Hi."

"Oh, hi, listen, I didn't...," Willow started. Truth be told, her mind had been so full of other things that she had forgotten to finish his paper.

"Okay." He didn't even seem to be interested in her excuse. "So, I did the outline for the paper on Roosevelt." He handed her one of the folders he was holding. "Turns out that there are two President Roosevelts. I didn't know exactly which one to do, so I did both." He handed her the second folder. "And I know they're kinda short, but I can flesh them out. Oh, and here's the bibliography." The third folder. "And I can retype that if you want. You just let me know what I did wrong and I'll get on that." He stood about nervously for a few seconds, before he left. On second thought, he returned and put an apple on the pile of folders in Willow's lap before he turned to leave for good.

Willow eyed the folders and the apple with a confused look, Buffy's eyes followed Percy with the same bewildered expression, Faith, up on her backrest, grinned amused.

"Okay..." Buffy started, "what'd I miss?"

"I'm as clueless as you are...," Willow supplied helpfully.

"Well, I know what happened," Faith said and two pairs of eyes with accompanying raised eyebrows turned towards her. "Your friend there had an encounter with Reddie's vampire double."

"Oh...," Willow and Buffy murmured, satisfied with Faith's answer.

"Oh!" the redhead said as she thought about it more. Encounter. Vampire Willow. "What did she do to him?"

"Nothing much," the brunette grinned. "She just choked him a little."

"Oh, God...," Willow put her head in her hands.

Faith put her hand on Willow's back, comforting. "Sorry. I was just being honest."

"Oh, no," Buffy mumbled, "speaking of choking..."

"Ah, Miss Rosenberg and her associates…," Snyder stood in front of them and acknowledged the threesome. "I see your tutoring of Mr. West is panning out as planned," he said, having observed their previous exchange.

"I-It is," Willow replied, her sudden lack of homework still surprising her.

"Keep up the good work," he said and it actually sounded like a compliment. He turned his attention towards Faith. "You – do you know what thing your feet are planted on is for?"

Faith got it and quickly jumped down, squeezed in between Willow and Buffy. "Sorry...sir...," she smiled at him politely.

Buffy looked at her slack-jawed. She suddenly wondered if the shrinks _really_ had performed some sort of brain wash on her. Willow's face showed a similar concern.

"Compliant," he said impressed and walked away.

With Snyder's back turned towards them Faith went back to being her usual self, mumbled something not all too polite, but decided to remain seated in her current spot, anyway.

Buffy looked at her watch. "Oh, no," she grumbled to herself. "Looks like I gotta go. You two be okay without me?" she asked as she got up.

"Oh, absolutely, B," they replied in unison, before Willow, meekly, added an "uffy...," to her sentence.

"Uh-huh...," the blonde remarked slowly, sizing up Weird and Weirder who were still seated on the bench. But at least Willow seemed more cheerful now that during their latest class. Which was a good thing, though she didn't know what had changed suddenly. Okay, she hadn't known what had been up with the glum expression earlier on either. "Bye."

Faith just waived at her, while Willow squeaked out a little "bye" in return. Willow waited till Buffy was gone before she faced Faith fully.

Faith was staring at her as if she was something precious. And maybe she was. To her.

"You should stop that," Willow said with a little smile herself.

"Huh?"

"Looking at me like…," Faith returned her smile and Willow chuckled, "well, that. There's a reason Buffy called you 'softie'. Softie!" she grinned.

Faith simply glowered her okay. Buffy had gotten to know her wrath last night and she really didn't mind Willow calling her this. Willow was allowed to call her anything. Even thought that exact word she just said reminded her, in a not too pleasant way, of the nightmare she had had a little over a week ago. Dream Willow had called her 'softie' as well. _Coincidence… coincidence! Yeah…that's it._ "Fine, I'll try…it's not that easy, you know," the sour expression slowly turned into a smirk.

The loveliest blush ever crept into Willow's cheeks, at least that was Faith's impression. "Okay…and when we're alone, you can look at me like that as much as you want."

Faith got what Willow was implying and nodded. Alone time – googly-eye time. But hopefully that one confession she wanted, needed to make to Willow, wouldn't ruin that.

Willow herself knew that she would feel much better about this overall situation after tonight, her conversation with Oz. She still had to inform Faith about that.

"So, how was it really?" the redhead went back to Faith's psych evaluation. She really longed to know.

Faith grunted. "Well, the shrink was pretty okay. But that test - looooong...456...?...questions about...everything and nothing...," she shook her head with an I'm-over-it grin on her lips.

"Oh, no, they did the MMPI." Willow had heard about that one from her parents. "Sorry. You know, there are much shorter tests out there."

"Thanks, hon, that's exactly what I didn't want to hear," she pouted and poked Willow in the side.

"Ouch, slayer...," Willow rubbed her offended side, "that hurt..."

"Oh, sorry," Faith put her hand over Willow's. A thought came into her mind. "Do you, uh...want me to kiss it better...you know, tonight, maybe...?" she asked with a twinkle in her eyes.

"I'd love you to," Willow said sincerely, "But I don't know if I'll be able to make it. Cuz, you know...," she looked down at Faith's hand still resting on her own, but now both of them were resting in between them, "I ran into Oz today."

_Ah, that's why the gloom…_ "And?"

"Asked him if he could come by my house tonight."

"Oh. What'd he say?" Faith sat so she could face Willow more directly. "Do you think he knows something's up?" she asked in the gentlest voice she could muster.

"I'm not sure," Willow admitted. "It looked as if he might know something."

"D'you think he's seen us?" _Won't really matter after tonight, but, still._

"Could be. I just hope he'll understand, you know," her eyes started to well up. "I-I don't want to hurt him..."

"I know, baby," Faith took Willow's hand in both of hers.

"But I need to do this, before he finds out, I mean, really finds out, another way."

"Yeah, I get that," Faith replied, thinking about the confession she herself had to make to Willow soon.

For a short moment, Willow let Faith play 'softie' again. "Look, I should get going. Got two more classes," Willow reluctantly pulled her hand out of Faith's grip. "So..."

"Hey, I'll call you tonight. After patrol. You can tell me how it went, okay?"

"Okay," Willow replied and, after looking around the yard, which was student-free, already, gave Faith a soft kiss before she hurried off.

Faith sat on the bench a little while longer, thinking about that dreaded talk with Willow and about how she could get Xander to talk to her in private.

* * *

It was 6 pm and Willow, nervously waiting for Oz to knock on her door, paced the living room of her house. Still she had no idea what she would say to him and how. But she knew that she needed to get this over with. _It's bad enough as it is. I don't want him to find out about it three months later...and possibly from someone else..._

When she heard the knock on the door, her heart almost stopped beating in her chest. Trying to compose herself, she walked to the front door; she opened it to find, not suprising, Oz standing on her porch, hands in his jacket, his expression unreadable.

"Hey," he said.

_To be continued..._

* * *

**A/N #2 **Those questions up there...are really taken from the, what was it, the MMPI, so I didn't make them up. Hope figuring out the formating wasn't all that complicated (it looks pretty weird, I know) :P See you next week, things are gonna be a little more interesting and the chapter is gonna be a little longer :)

**A/N #3: **As always, I love reviews, guys :)


	20. Confessions are good for the soul

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. Thank you all for these characters! Tiny little bits and pieces of dialogues taken form the episodes "New Moon Rising" and "Consequences". No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the because of...what do you call this again...oh, right, "life"! ;)  
**Thanks to: **My lovely betas Wil-Lehane- and K  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

**A/N: **Thanks for your great reviews, guys! Love you! Keep them coming ;)

* * *

CHAPTER TWENTY -- CONFESSIONS ARE GOOD FOR THE SOUL…RIGHT…?!

She motioned him to come inside. He did so, but didn't bother to take off his jacket. Apparently he wanted this thing to be over as quickly as possible. Painful or not, though painful was much more likely.

They sat down on the living room couch, the same couch they had made out on at Christmas, shortly after they had gotten back together. After she had betrayed him with Xander. And now they were sitting here and she was fidgeting around, trying to find the most sensitive words for the break-up she had been planning.

The silence was burden-laden. Willow knew that she had to make the first step, but she didn't know how. The clock on the wall – deafeningly loud in the otherwise quiet room – ticked away the seconds. Oz was sitting stoically on the couch, eyes staring rigidly ahead of him, not looking at Willow. The redhead on the other hand was a bundle of nerves; she was kneading her hands vigorously, willing herself to start the conversation.

"Do you want something to drink?" Willow asked him, needing something to break the ice.

"No," came the short and fast reply.

The redhead sighed an inaudible 'oh'. She pressed her lips together tightly, the ticking of the clock roaring in her ears. "Do you want something to eat?" she tried again after a while.

"Willow. Please...," he said in his admonishing voice which, to the normal ear, sounded like his regular voice, but Willow knew the difference.

She tried to pull herself together. "Oz...," she started, "I-I-I wanted to...," she exhaled heavily, "I-I wanted to tell you that...I'm...," she turned her anxious eyes towards him, he was still staring straight ahead, not wanting to make eye-contact. "Look, something happened and...I don't know how, but...I did...something with...a-and I knew it was wrong, because I was with you at that time and I felt bad a-after...doing it...but it felt...and I was...and we just...," she stopped. What she had said so far didn't make a lot of sense, not even to her, and she knew what she was trying to say. She concentrated and tried again. "I-I wanted to tell you that..."

"I know," he said simply and stopped another babble-attack. Now he knew more than he actually wanted to, without Willow really saying what happened and with whom. But the implications and his own observations were enough for him.

Hurt, because she had finally told him. Satisfaction, because she had finally told him…

"You know." Willow just nodded, a little relieved that she hadn't got to explain it all to him, but also worried about what exactly he had seen. "How?"

"I saw you two – here," he motioned to the couch with his head, still refusing to make eye-contact, fearing that looking at her might tear him apart. "Two days ago. Then in school today, at the library. I had a feeling, but I wasn't a hundred per cent sure. Until now."

"Oh." Willow thought back to her and Faith lying here together on the couch, all cuddled up, and their almost-smoochies at the library this morning – if it hadn't been for Buffy. "I'm sorry," she said. She hadn't meant for Oz to find out like this.

He just shook his head. From his body language, it was still hard to tell how he felt about all this. "So, how exactly...," he started, "are you two a couple now?"

He wasn't willing to put up a fight, so it seemed to Willow. And she didn't know if she should be glad…or sad. Had he felt something like this would be coming and had been prepared for it? Well, after Xander…who could really blame him? Once a cheater, always a cheater.

But she thought back to his actual question, and she felt having to mull it over. They hadn't really talked about this yet. She knew how she felt about Faith and thought she knew how Faith felt about her. But what did that make them exactly?

"Um...I don't know, we might be. And if not, then I guess we're on our way to...," That was the thing that Willow was sure about.

"So, we're not...anymore," he finally met her eyes and Willow could see that he was hurt.

"I guess not," Willow admitted and her eyes started to well up. This hurt her as much as it did him. But it was only fair to him. More fair than going on for weeks, trying to pretend that nothing was wrong, when she knew that at some point he would find out what was really going on.

Which he already had, and that was bad enough.

"But you're happy? With…her?" he asked her sincerely.

Her heart thumped in her chest. He really wanted to know, and not out of malevolence. Honestly, she replied, "I am. I can't explain it..."

"Might be better for us if you don't," Oz stopped her. He blamed himself for this situation. He had neglected their relationship in the last weeks, which was probably an aftermath of her betrayal with Xander. He had forgiven her for that by now, but still it had left a crack in their relationship – he couldn't be that close to her anymore. So it had been kind of her fault too. And Xander's somehow.

But even if not all of his heart had been in this relationship lately, it is hard for him to give all this up.

Willow nodded at his comment and bit her lip. She wished that she knew where they would stand after this evening. Her feelings for Oz were still very strong. There was still love, even if it was inevitably being reduced to platonic love now. Friendshippy love, maybe. She wanted them to be friends. But what did Oz want?

"Look, Oz, can we maybe...stay friends?"_ God, that sounds cliché..._

"Um, I don't know," he considered her question. "Guess it will take some time to find out," he finally said and almost shrugged his shoulders.

"I guess," Willow agreed. "But, can you promise me something?"

"What?"

"Can you please not tell the others about this? We're trying to figure out how to drop that bomb...," _Not really into any more bomb dropping right now._

"Okay," he replied. Even if Willow hadn't asked him, he wouldn't have told anyone about this. He knew that Willow's relationship with the slayer would be complicated, mostly due to the fact that they are two women in love; a lot of people in the oh-so-modern-and-open-minded world still frown upon that. Those two didn't need mouth-to-mouth high school propaganda to make their unusual demon-laden lives any harder than it already was. Plus he wasn't the type to do spill other peoples' secrets, anyway.

"Thanks," Willow said gratefully and tentatively touched his arm.

"I do know something, though," he faced her more directly and she looked at him hopefully, "if I find out that she hurts you in any way – on purpose or not – then it won't matter to me that she's a slayer; I will hurt her."

As a tear rolled down Willow's cheek, he took her into his arms.

Believe me, she'll beat you to it, Willow thought as she enjoyed Oz's embrace for probably the last time in a long while. Her tears were falling freely now.

Oz cherished the hug as long as possible. He started to accept that – once again – he has lost Willow to her best friend, but this time to the little blond one. And probably for good.

None of them knew that they were thinking about two different girls.

* * *

Later that night, Faith called her as promised. The slayer had found a telephone booth close to one of the many Sunnydale cemeteries. Luckily Willow had remembered to give her her number this time around – otherwise they'd have to think of a worse word than 'dumbass' to label themselves.

Willow leaned over to the bedside table to picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey…it's me," Faith said into the phone. She was leaning against the wall of the booth, keeping an eye on the cemetery. She and Buffy had met Angel on the way and now those two were sitting on a crypt, smooching. _Like two little hormone-driven teenagers...well, B's one, but...nevermind_. Of course, Faith had given them the opportunity to, when she had ducked out, pretending to check out another part of the cemetery, but actually just wanting to call Willow, hearing how it went with Oz.

"Oh, hey, sweetie, how are you?" the little redhead asked. A box was sitting next to her on the bed, several things were strewn across the comforter.

"Um," Faith stopped. To her, Willow almost sounded as if she was not all there. "I think I should be the one asking you that. So, how are you?" her voice got softer.

"Pretty good, actually," Willow said and picked up a little plastic figure. Her voice revealed that she was trying to sound happier than she actually felt.

"So, your little...talk went okay?" the slayer inquired, obviously having heard the strange tone in her voice.

Willow sighed. She knew that she couldn't deceive Faith. "Well, as okay as a break-up talk can go, right?"

"Right, right, gotcha," Faith bit her lip. She still had a hard time believing that Willow had broken off her one-year relationship to be with her. She all the more wanted to make things right from now on.

"But at least now he knows about us," Willow continued, "a-and he might be okay with it in the long run." _The very long run._ "We might even become friends," she managed a little smile.

"Well, that sounds good," Faith replied. _Not wanting her to lose everything between them because of me._

"Hm, yeah, guess we'll have to see how it works out," Willow reckoned. "So what are you doing right now?" she decided it was time to change to topic.

"I'm...," Faith smirked, "voyeur-ing..."

"You what?!" the little figure fell out of Willow's hand, the talk about Oz was momentarily forgotten.

The slayer giggled naughtily. "Well, I'm observing the cemetery...you know, doing my job," she stopped for effect. "And there they are: 'B and Soulboy sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g'," she sang. "They're not sitting in a tree, though," she continued. "Huh. Guess they don't miss me very much."

Willow frowned at that sentence before Faith did.

"That double-entendre wasn't planned," the brunette scratched her head.

"Right, got it," Willow nodded, even though Faith couldn't see it.

"So, you'll be okay without me, Reddie? We'll probably be lurking around the cemeteries for a couple more hours...if I get the lovebirds to let go of each other sometime tonight."

"Yeah, I'll be okay," Willow replied. She would have loved to have the slayer with her here with her, but this way she had some time to sort through some things. "I've got some stuff to take care of, anyway."

"Okay. So I'll see you tomorrow, baby?"

"Absolutely."

"Okay, can't wait…I love you," Faith said.

"Love you, too," Willow replied softly and waited until she heard the slayer hang up the phone.

She picked up the little plastic figure again. It was the PEZ-witch that Oz had given her a couple of months ago. Lying in front of her were pictures of them as a couple, and of Oz alone, playing his guitar, plus a necklace with a red plectrum with a "W" carved in it as improvised pendent.

She shuffled the things together and deposited them in the box next to her, which was already inhibited by some CDs of "Dingoes ate my Baby". She put the box under her bed and picked up a piece of paper from her bedside table. She opened it and read – again, for probably the hundredth time in the last two days. She smiled. It was Faith's letter.

In Downtown-Sunnydale, still standing near the phone-booth, said Faith began to mentally prepare herself for the coming day. The thing she had to discuss with Willow wasn't something you should do late at night, or over the phone, or immediately following a break-up. _Tomorrow's the big day. Hope she'll understand. But first things first. Xander..._

* * *

History class had just ended when Xander made his way to the cafeteria. And, God, that had been a long and dull hour – again. No surprise when you didn't know anything about it and don't really care enough to find out.

The only remotely interesting thing had been – believe it or not – Anya. Though he didn't know why exactly she was even here still. The ex-demon had been able to answer each and every single one of the teacher's question. _Well, guess that's easy when you're over a thousand years old..._ And even worse, Xander couldn't shake the impression that she might be flirting with him. Last week she hadn't even looked at him, this week – after the doppelganger incident - she had boldly sat at the table next to his and had done her best to get his attention. He just knew that she hadn't worn that top by accident.

Why did this always have to happen to him…

He hadn't gotten involved in her flirting, for several reasons. One – his last encounter with the female sex still stuck in his head, and he still hadn't made up his mind, if this was in a good or a bad way. It had been somewhat too fast and too blurry to judge.

As he walked along the corridor, he suddenly got pulled off of his course and into a dark room. He was too surprised to scream, and probably too manly.

"I...what...," he stuttered and tried to find his bearings. When his eyes finally adjusted to the darkness, he noticed the surroundings of the all too familiar janitor's closet, where he and a certain brunette had spend some quality time in every now and again.

He looked around – thinking that there might be a remote possibility that Cordelia...but then his eyes fell on a brunette that he had never expected to find in here.

"Faith?"

At first he thought that she had dragged him in here to...repeat their encounter...

But the slayer didn't react to him calling her name, she was not her normal self. She looked so much smaller than usual, her black attire let her almost disappear in the unlit room. Her face and hands were the only parts of her body that remain visible. The face with a meditative expression, eyes darting from Xander to the wall, back to Xander and to the ground, lips pressed together tightly; the hands fidgeting with each other.

"Faith," he tried again. The girl seemed nervous and an unpleasant thought crept into his mind.

_Is she...? No, she can't be. We used protection...or at least I think we did. It was kinda...I mean, I was kinda out of it..._

"Faith, you're scaring me..."

The little brunette came out of her reverie. "Sorry. Look, um...," Faith started. Apologizing to Xander proved harder to her than she had thought it would be. She wished that this could have taken place someplace else, but she had no idea where. Plus a non-committal 'Xander-can-we-talk?' between library and cafeteria would have been suspicious. Not that this wasn't awkward enough as it was. "I-I know this is a little bit off the wall, me dragging you in here and all...but I...I didn't know how I should talk to you. I-I mean, we did kinda keep a voluntary minimum safe distance from each other in the last few weeks and I didn't know how y-you would react if I asked you if I could talk to you in person, so..."

Right now he thought that Faith could challenge Willow for the title as Babble-World-Champion. But this did nothing to calm his nerves. _What are you trying to tell me?!_

Faith saw the panicked look in his eyes and tried to pull herself together. She exhaled and shook her head, concentrating on what she wanted to say. "Look, I'm not so good at apologies..."

"Apologies...?"

"Just let me do this, okay?" she interrupted him and he nodded. "Um...I-I wanted to say, I'm sorry for what happened between us...no, not sorry that it happened," _well, just a little_, "sorry for how I behaved...well, mostly afterwards..." Her eyes revealed just how sorry she was. Being with Willow had changed her mind on her sexual behavior. Okay, she didn't feel bad about the majority of it – just about that night with Xander. He _did_ get the getting-run-over-by-a-truck treatment from her, which she worked so hard to avoid with Willow. And she feared that this had destroyed the friendship between her and him and that it was time for at least some sort of damage containment. "I just wanted to...I wish things could go back to how they were before we...I want us to be friends again." As much as they had been friends before. Xander just looked at her incredulously. "So, just wanted to say that I'm sorry."

She willed her eyes to make contact with Xander's, showing him that she was being serious.

Xander's mind had had some problems processing what the slayer was trying to apologize for.

"I'm not," he finally said and her face lit up with hope. "I mean, I can't remember most of it...what I do remember is – it was nice. If I could remember more I would probably say it was great," he grinned and earned a small smile from the slayer. "And I knew before that you can be a wild thing and so it didn't really surprise me...although, next time, I'd like to be able to dress _before_ I get kicked out. That was kinda embarrassing, but..."

Faith blushed and averted her eyes to the ground. But Xander would have none of it; he put his finger under her chin, made her look up again. "Hey, it's all okay."

"So, you won't hold anything against me." There was still a shimmer of doubt in her eyes.

"Absolutely not," he confirmed his statement.

"Okay," Faith sighed in relief. On second thought she added. "I hope you know that it'll never happen again."

"Oh, of course," he replied, though deep within, he wouldn't have minded a little something between them. "We're good."

"And you didn't tell anyone...right?" That was the question that had bothered Faith the most. That his girl friends, mainly Willow, find out about them before she had the chance, or the guts, to tell.

"A gentleman never talks about his conquests," Xander supplied what she wanted to hear. And it was true – he hadn't told anyone about it. _Although it might have been a good way to deflect Larry from the whole 'I'm gay' thing..._

"Okay." She looked at the guy who was somewhat her first male friend ever. Another thing that Faith needed to get used to, apart from having a girlfriend now. Since Willow had broken up with Oz yesterday, this was kind of official for her – except without the others knowing about it.

One thought on Xander's mind was still bothering him, although the turn of their conversation had made this very much unlikely. "So, you're not...you know...?" he pointed towards her tummy.

Only now she realized what he must have been thinking earlier. "Oh...oh!" _Good one, Faith. Dragging him in here, stammering nervously. It's clear that that must get him worried about that. _She hurried to explain. "No, I'm not. Definitely. We did use a condom, you know."

He sighed relieved, but then he scrunched his eyebrows curiously, a little smirk appeared on his lips. "Color?"

She laughed softly.

--

The janitor approached the closet, carting a small vehicle with all sorts of cleaning utensils in front of him, whistling a little tune. He was about to open the door when he heard the words "condom" and "color", followed by Faith's laugh from inside. Without losing the beat, he rolled his vehicle past the closet, still whistling and pretending to be oblivious to what went on in there.

--

"What'd you think? Black, of course," Faith smirked.

"I knew it," he replied, looking at her clothes. All black.

"You know, I can get you some, if you want to," she offered. "Because…listen… Just because we two won't, doesn't mean you shouldn't. I mean you're a pretty cool guy, not to mention cute..."

"Huh?" he asked stupefied. To him it almost sounded as if Faith was trying to fix him up with someone else. Acting as a sponsor for his dating life – since she was not interested in him any more.

"I'm pretty sure there's girls out there that will be interested in you, you know. And if needed I'll tell them myself how great you are."

Now it was Xander's turn to blush._ She's really playing Date Doctor here..._

"Thanks. I might take you up on that offer...," the rumble in his stomach interrupted them. He almost hated his body for it; him and Faith re-bonding in the broom closet was definitely something else. But, "Come on, let's go eat something. Buffy and Will are waiting in the cafeteria." He went to open the door but Faith held him back, pulling him into a hug. "Oh! What's that for?" he asked as he put his arms around her.

"Sorry." She disentangled herself from him, but didn't let go. "Just wanted to do that. Guess friends do that sometimes," she smiled.

"Okay, my Faith-friend," he grinned and left the room shortly after, making sure that no one saw him.

Faith stayed in there for a couple more minutes, to not draw any attention to them. She was relieved that burden number one had been lifted from her shoulders, and to her surprise it had went surprisingly smooth. _Kinda hopin' it'll be the same tonight..._

Slowly she got ready to come out of the closet.

* * *

When Faith entered the cafeteria a few minutes after Xander, she spotted Willow, Xander and Buffy sitting at a table near the back. She could see that they were having a vivid conversation, mostly Willow talking and the other two listening intensively – and Faith knew what this conversation had to be about.

She collected herself and walked over to the table. _Okay, pretend to be surprised when... _"Hey, guys," she greeted them. Two pairs of slightly shocked eyes and one pair of happily-relieved ones turned towards her. As on cue Faith blurted, "Whoa, what's with the faces?"

"Will and Oz broke up," Buffy informed her curtly.

"Oh," Faith put on her best surprised-face and turned it towards Willow. "I'm really sorry, Red." And this was not even a lie.

"Thanks," Willow replied and understood the true sentiment behind those words. "But I guess it's better this way," she redhead smiled a little.

"If you say so," Faith shrugged but, unnoticed by Buffy and Xander, winked into Willow's direction a second later.

Xander got up to offer Faith his chair. "Here, sit. I'll get us something to eat."

"No, no," she put her hand on his shoulder and pushed him down, "you stay here. I'll go get the food. Just need a..."

Three of those little dining cards were held out towards her. Faith stepped back, startled, "Oh, thanks, guys, but I'm not _that_ hungry." She considered briefly whose card she should take. Consequently she decided on Xander's, since she also should get him something to eat.

"What'll you have?" she asked him.

"One burrito should be enough."

"Okay. You guys want anything else?" she asked the girls whose plates were still half full. They shook their heads. "Didn't think so. Be right back," she walked towards the kitchen area.

"Hope I'm not broke once you get back here," he shouted at her retreating back.

She turned around and saw the grin on his face. "Don't jinx it, buddy," she winked.

Faith decided on a burrito also, plus a side of fries and Jell-O. She put two cokes on the tray and balanced it over to the cashier. The nameplate read "J. Espenson". She handed over Xander's dining card and 4.59 were debited.

As she walked back to the table, she had an encounter with the person she was afraid of meeting again – after yesterday. Oz. He neared her and nodded in greeting. Nothing in his eyes said that he saw her as the reason for the break-up. And of course he didn't.

She nodded back and tried a little smile. They passed each other by and Faith came back to the table, where her threesome of friends had observed the exchange.

Willow locked eyes with Faith and this one smiled reassuringly. The slayer sat down on the chair that Xander had retrieved for her and handed over his card. "Four dollars fifty-nine. I think three dollars of that is my fault. I'll pay you back."

"Don't sweat it," he replied and slapped her on the thigh playingly.

After a short Xander-incited discussion about Willow's possible new fling, quickly ended by two slayers' elbows in his ribs, they went back to eating their food and talked about everything and nothing – to Willow and Faith's relief.

Lunch ended and Faith walked the three to their next class, though she and Willow hung back a bit. Faith wanted to discuss her request with Willow. She asked her to come by her motel room later tonight and Willow got this wigged expression on her face, because that was pretty much the same exchange she had had with Oz yesterday. The slayer calmed her down and asserted her that it's nothing bad.

_At least I hope so._

* * *

And the redhead did stop by later. Faith opened the door and let her in.

"Looks good," Willow said, looking around the room. There was still a big gaping hole in the wall and a crate served as improvised bedside table, but apart from that it looked pretty normal.

"Yeah," Faith replied, a little out of breath from nervousness. Talking to Xander earlier had been easier for her than this.

Willow felt Faith's mood._ I thought she said it was nothing bad..._"Hey, are you okay?" she touched the girl's arm lightly.

"Um...," Faith locked eyes with her girlfriend, or maybe soon only girl friend or even less. "Could you sit down, please?" she asked. _If she dies of shock, she should at least fall on something soft...well, somewhat soft..._

Willow did as asked, alarmed now. Faith stood about nervously, biting her lips. The redhead watched her closely, her heart started beating faster. All sorts of scenarios were rushing through her brain; most of them were not very pleasant. When the slayer didn't speak for almost a minute, just kept fidgeting with her hands and looking to the ground, she said, "Faith, you're scaring me."

The words, the same as she had heard out of Xander's mouth earlier, brought her out of her trance. "Um...," she started and chose her words carefully, "I talked to Xander today..."

"Uh-huh?" Willow replied, not sure why this would stir up the slayer this much.

Faith finally looked her in the eyes again. _I don't know how… _"Listen, we're kinda at the beginning of a relationship here, right?" she asked and Willow nodded in answer, "And I think if we want this to work, we shouldn't have any secrets." She kneeled down in front of the redhead, making herself smaller than Willow, and took her hands into hers. She sighed heavily. "This isn't easy to say...," Faith decided to use the direct method, before she broke out another box of babbles. She sighed heavily. "I slept with Xander."_ Blunt._ She saw how Willow's features start to take on a freaked-out expression. "It's not what you might think..."

The words needed a few seconds to sink into Willow's brain "You what? When? Where? How?" she blurted out, before Faith could explain some more. "No, not 'how'...I didn't mean that...," she pulled her hands out of the slayer's grip and this one didn't try to hold her back.

"It's...It was that night where we had that apocalypse..."

Willow thought back to the last apocalypse, the only one that Faith had witnessed so far. _Funny – how many apocalypses did the have here?_

"I was fighting one of these blue things, she pretty much put me through a wringer. And then he showed up in his Chevy and saved me. We ended up here and he helped me to set my shoulder again. And then it was just...I don't know...I guess I was horny and he was here and...it just happened...," she looked at Willow hopefully.

"Oh." The redhead pushed herself off of the bed, the 'here', where it happened. That night. _Well, at least it was before we...and now I understand the thing with her arm. 'Kiss it better'. Right. But did they...?_ "Was it just once or...?"

"Just once," Faith hurried to reply. "And it didn't..." _mean anything to me. No, can't say that. He's her best friend. Not sure that this is what she wants to hear._ "It just happened. And we're both clear on the fact that it wasn't anything special and that it won't happen again." She used the word 'special' on purpose. "It's not like what he have. Special, you know?"

Willow's head was spinning. _Xander. Faith. Xander and Faith. And here. Where we also...God, how many others did she... no, won't judge about that – it's none of my business._ Willow shook her head. "Faith, I really...I don't know what to say. I guess I have to think about that a bit...okay?" Tears were shining in her eyes, despite her trying to suppress them.

"Yeah, of course," Faith replied faintly, as her own eyes welled up.

Willow exited the room and walked off slowly – destination unclear, face unreadable, mind momentarily blank.

Faith sat down on her bed – the bed – and put her head in her hands. She hoped that Willow would return, but her inner feeling was telling her something else. _At least it's out now. Better me telling her than her finding out from who-knows-you. Just hope that this doesn't ruin everything between us. Or her and Xan..._

_To be continued..._

* * *

**A/N 2:** Another "in-case-you-wonder"-one: With "J. Espenson" I was of course refering to Buffy author Jane Espenson, who had a short cameo working in the cafeteria in "Band Candy" (you can see her in the background in the scene where Snyder is handing out the candy to the gang). I thought putting her in here would be funny :P


	21. Of Funny Stakes and Lookalikes

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the because of...what do you call this again...oh, right, "life"! ;)  
**Thanks to: **My lovely betas Wil-Lehane- and K  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

* * *

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE -- OF FUNNY STAKES AND LOOKALIKES

Two hours had past since Willow had run from Faith's motel room, destination 'anywhere but here'. And Faith had tried to busy herself. Busying herself, just to not think about her confession and what it might have destroyed between her and Willow. But it hadn't helped.

After making the bed for the tenth time, arranging her comic books alphabetically, reorganizing the clothes in her drawer and making a pot of coffee, she was now sitting on the edge of the bed, cup of coffee in her hands, thinking about Willow – still.

She was not drinking the coffee, though, since caffeine usually made her jittery, especially in evening hours, and that was something that she didn't need right now; she was nervous enough as it was. The pot was just something for her to cling to, and to keep her hands warm. Those were incredibly cold for some reason that Faith didn't understand.

Some time during her cleaning-the-room-craze she had turned on her crappy little TV, and after hitting and shaking it several times, she finally got a more or less acceptable reception. She didn't know the movie that was on and she didn't really care, but she hoped for some distraction.

The movie was about a woman..._no, not woman...well, that, too. Alien. Alien played by that chick from... 'Nine ½ weeks'...Kim Basinger. And then there's this guy from the Blues Brothers... What, marriage already? I thought they've only met yesterday...Hm, the little one is cute. Almost looks like...no, don't go there!_

Faith shook her head and sighed. _Distraction..._

Five minutes later, the little one was getting ready for a date and Faith still hadn't managed to not think of her as a miniature facsimile of her precious Willow. The gestures, the mimic, even the voice...almost. _They're absolutely identical... Oh, that dress is just...well, okay, 80s movie, I think. Pretty normal for that era. _Then little TV-Willow opened the door to let her date in. As he walked into frame, Faith almost dropped her cup of coffee. It didn't fall out of her hands, but still some of the content spilled on the already stained carpet.

The boy, about two inches shorter than the girl, pale skin and light, presumably red hair looked exactly like Willow's until-yesterday boyfriend. Bile made its way up her throat and she barely suppressed the urge to vomit.

Little Willow and little Oz were staring back at her from the TV, mocking her.

_Willow gave him up for me – and now? Day one of our unofficial-official relationship and already I've screwed up. Though I promised myself that I would make things better. Not hurt her anymore._

That had been Faith's intention when she had asked Willow to come by here today. Make things better. Not hurt Willow (at a later point of their relationship).

As she heard the boy say, "She'll be safe with me, sir," and saw him shove little Willow out of the door, she was near tears. _She never should have done it. Never should have broken up with him. He's so much better for her. I mean, just look at me – even when I try to not hurt her, I end up hurting her, anyway._

_Well, that's your nature, screw-up!_

She heard a knock on the door and jumped up startled, spilled even more coffee. She put the now half-empty cup in the sink, _Not gonna drink that stuff, anyway,_ wiped her wet hands on her leather pants and went to open the door.

It's her. It's gotta be her, she reassured herself as she turned the doorknob.

Outside the door was standing the one person she least wanted to see right now – the motel manager. As beer-bellied and unkempt as his predecessor, plus the spiteful look on his face.

"Hello, missy," he greeted her in his snarking way.

_Great! As if my self-made pile of crap isn't big enough... _"What d'you want?" she asked, more than depressed that her hopes remained unfulfilled.

"How about last week's rent?" he replied and braced his arm against the door jamb.

_Shit, right_. "I'll get it to you tomorrow, okay?" she made a move to close the door.

But he stopped her and, even worse, pushed his way inside the room. "Fine. Then you only owe me this week's rent and...," he came to a stop and took in the big hole in the wall, "...What the hell happened here?"

"Um...," Faith started, but at the moment she was at a lack of convincing replies. _'I punched a hole through the wall' or 'Demon attack' won't do here...hm, or maybe..._ "Demon attack?" she shoved her hands into her pockets and shrugged.

"Very funny," came the mocking answer. "Well, guess the renovation will cost at least a hundred dollars. Wonder who'll have to pay for that," he snarled in her direction.

Faith sighed.

He shook his head. "If you get me the rent for last week, this week and next week by Friday, I'm willing to turn a blind eye on it and let you pay for the repairs in installments. If not," he shrugged in a haughtily way, "I guess you have to look for some place else to stay."

"Right. Got it," Faith replied and held the door open for the manager, willing him to leave.

_Where'm I gonna get...what is it...400 dollars...??_

But he showed not the slightest inclination to do so. Instead he stood directly in front of Faith and made another offer. "You know, you could square your debts by working...with me. I heard you have quite a talent...," his body language and lusting look left no doubt of what he was talking about.

Anger was rising inside Faith. _Even if I were that desperate, it would never be you..._ "Get out," she spit between gritted teeth and shoved him out of the door. Before I do something we'll both regret later...

"You know where to find me," he shouted as he left.

Faith slammed the door shut and plopped down on her bed. _Great. That's just great...Where am I gonna get 400 dollars? Pull a bank job?... I could ask Giles or Wimpy to give me money...but that'd only help me temporarily. Hm, maybe the Watchers Council? What's the stupid Council for, anyway? Besides butting in on stuff that doesn't concern them? They should at least give us some money...oh, there's the little one again! _Faith thought as her eyes focused on the screen one more time. Her money problems suddenly became subordinate.

_Hm, maybe I won't even need that money after all. If Willow doesn't want to be with me anymore...don't know if I really wanna stay here in that case..._she sighed again.

Half an hour later, the movie was over and Faith looked outside. It was getting dark and, remembering the happenings of last week, especially Thursday and Friday night, another unpleasant thought crept into her brain.

_Need to find Willow before I start planning the getaway. Make sure she's home safe...even if she doesn't want to see me. God, I hope she went home. I'm gonna have a hard time finding her, if she didn't go there. Doesn't matter. I'm gonna find her, even if I have to check every square millimeter in this town. I WILL NOT let anything HAPPEN to HER. Letting her run off…hell, letting her stay here alone…had been bad enough._

She turned off TV, grabbed her jacket from the dresser and just when she was about to open the door, she heard a soft knock.

More timid and faint than the manager's knock had been. Her heart stopped beating for a second as she realized that – this time – it was Willow.

She was not really sure if she should be happy or afraid about the fact that the redhead came back.

But first things first; she opened the door to find her presumptions confirmed. The little witch was standing outside her door, fidgeting with her hands, eyes darting from the ground up to Faith's face, down to her shoes again.

"Willow...," Faith dropped her jacket and took Willow's arm, pulling her inside the room. When the redhead didn't object, she saw this as a good sign and tried for a hug.

But this time Willow refused, blocked the embrace with her arms. Faith quickly pulled her hands back and let them hang uselessly at her sides.

Willow went to close the door and turned around with a miserable expression on her face.

Faith saw this and all hope fled from her heart.

"So...I've been thinking," she said in a tiny voice. She tried to look Faith in the eyes, but found it hard to do so.

"Okay?" Faith replied anxious. She drew her arms around her, preparing herself for what Willow was about to say.

"Um...," the redhead pushed herself off of the door and walked further into the room, "okay...I get the you-sleeping-with-Xander," she started, "I-I mean, I don't even know why I reacted like this...w-we two weren't even...you know, when he and you did...," she sighed and paced across Faith's dirty and worn carpet. The slayer followed her every move with her eyes, "...and I don't wanna know what you did last week, cuz we weren't together then either...," she stopped and looked at Faith curtly, "are we together now...?"

Faith didn't get to reply because Willow already continued her babble. "I-I mean, I think we are...," she went on and Faith nodded her agreement, unnoticed. "And I-I guess a little bit of the me-freaking came from m-my own feeling for him...you know what we kind of almost had an affair, right...?"

Faith bit her lip and nodded. Yeah, she knew about it, Buffy had told her that some time after Christmas, when they started to spend more time with each other again, trying to fix their friendship. Faith had asked how exactly Cordelia ended up in the hospital that one night and Buffy had explained how it had come to this. And so Faith also learned that Willow and Oz had split up temporarily – and why. This was the second time that this happened to him.

"S-So I guess there was a little bit of jealousy involved there." When she saw that panicked look on Faith's face, she hurried to continue, "No, that's not what I meant. That's over. I don't have those kinds of feelings for him any more. Oh, no, that's way over. What I meant is that...I always thought that he and me would eventually...you know, so I guess that's kinda what made me jealous, but it doesn't matter now," she said and Faith nodded relieved. "And I guess I was afraid that you made my best friend just another one-night stand for you."

Faith flinched. _Well, okay, I kinda did. But I already apologized..._

"Sorry," Willow pacified. That had come out blunter than intended. "but...," Willow sighed, a sad expression on her face, "... for a moment...I thought that...I was just one more notch in your headboard as well...,"

"What!? No!" Faith denied vehemently,_ okay, I tried to tell me that, _"I..."

"I know! I know...," Willow continued, before Faith had a chance to really get desperate. "You told me...and showed me that it's not like that," she tried a little smile.

"Oh," Faith replied, glad that Willow didn't hold her behavior against her.

Willow approached her. "I'm...sorry, okay?" she said softly and got a slightly confused frown from Faith, "I overreacted. I guess I was shocked. That's not something you hear every day, so my brain needed some time to...and I was just so confused that I didn't know what else to do at that moment," she sighed, knowing that this could become another babble-rant, if she wasn't stopped sometime soon, "so I took off. It was the only thing I could think of…and I'm sorry I freaked out and freaked you out in the process, but..."

Faith grabbed her face, kissed her firmly. "Shut up," she shushed the redhead.

_Oh, thank God, _Willow looked into Faith's eyes. "Okay…," she replied and one second later Faith's lips were back on hers, but softer this time, because now she didn't need to shut her now really-real-girlfriend up. Now she only needed to let her know that she understood, and that she has had every right to react like this.

The kiss soon got more heated and Willow drew her arms around Faith's neck, not wanting to give her any chance to escape. Faith didn't even so much as _think_ about doing so. Oh, no. Before she even knew it, Willow was already lying on top of Faith on the bed.

The slayer's hands moved down Willow's back, slowly reaching her butt. Her right hand finally cupped one of the buttcheeks and squeezed tightly... just to yank her hand back a millisecond later.

Faith rolled the little redhead off of her, on her side, and inspected her hand. There was still a tiny triangular indention on the tip of her ring finger. "Ouch!" she whimpered softly, "What you've got in your pocket…!?" and pouted in Willow's direction.

The redhead realized what Faith's had detected by painful accident. She reached behind her and pulled something out of her pocket. "Oh, uh...," she hid the little offender in her hand. "This is actually something I wanted to give you. You know, kinda as a peace-offering. I know it's probably the silliest thing you've ever seen, but I don't know…I thought it was cute somehow..."

Patience was not one of Faith's virtues – at least most of the time. _She's gonna break into a justification-babble about her silly little gift, if I don't do something about it._ And so she took Willow's hand into hers and without much difficulty opened the fist that Willow had formed to hide her present.

It turned out to be a tiny wooden stake, with a little chain, connected to a ring, in the blunt end – a key ring! Faith took it out of Willow's hand and pretended to be eyeing it suspiciously. But in point of fact she couldn't decide what the cuter thing was right now: the little prezzie or the hopeful-embarrassed-anxious-happy look on Willow's face.

"I-If you don't like it, that's okay. I...," again Willow's babble got disrupted by Faith's lips on hers.

"Are you kidding? I love it!" the slayer grinned and whirled the little stake come key ring around her finger. "Where'd you get it?"

Willow was relieved that Faith didn't think of her as totally crazy. "The magic shop on Main Street. They have all sorts of knick-knacks. I could have gotten you a little vampire...but I guess that is more appropriate."

"It's perfect," Faith replied. "I'll treasure it," she said and momentarily put it into the pocket of her own pants. Before she then went to comb her fingers through Willow's soft hair, her face only inches away from the redhead's.

They lay like this for a good long while, Faith playing with Red's hair, Willow simply holding the slayer close and looking into her eyes, enjoying the happy twinkle she saw there.

Could their life as a couple finally begin now?

"It's dark out," Faith mentioned casually, without even straining her neck to look outside.

"Do you have to patrol?" Willow asked with a hint of disappointment in her voice.

"No," the slayer replied and smiled, "B and Angel are covering for me. I told her that I had something important to do tonight," she said and nudged Willow's nose with hers. "Plus it'll give them the opportunity for another smoochie-session in the cemetery." They both grinned at this and Faith got ideas for her own smoochie-session with Willow. "So...you wanna stay?" she asked hopefully and her hand dropped to Willow's arm that was still draped around her.

"Of course," the redhead replied sincerely. "But I'm afraid I'm gonna have to tell you...I haven't eaten anything since lunch. I'm kinda hungry," she smiled sheepishly.

Relieved that it was only that, the brunette replied. "Oh, me neither...I mean, me too...," she scrunched her eyebrows. "You know what I mean...," she tried and Willow nodded. "Uh, there's a small pizza place across the street, I could get us something."

"Great," Willow replied and Faith reluctantly got up.

"So, what do you like?" Pizza Hawaii?" she asked. Willow seemed like the Pizza Hawaii type to her. Or maybe Pizza Margarita. Something mild, at any rate.

Red's eyes became big, before she started to grin. "Not at all…something hot and spicy for me," she explained and hoped it wouldn't come of all double-entendre-y to Faith.

"I'm a very lucky guesser…" Faith shrugged sheepishly. "Okay, be right back. Stakes, Holy Water, you know where to find it. Or, if anything should attack you, just scream, I'll be there in no time."

"Right, okay. Do you want me to pay half?" Willow was about to get up and get her purse from the backpack she had left here earlier.

_Does she know I'm in trouble...?_ Faith was almost tempted to say 'yes', but decided against it. _Screw the money, this is not important right now_. "No, thanks. B'sides I think you paid on our first...," she stopped, "...date?"

Of course Willow knew what she meant and tried to remember. ..._Right, I threw the bill on the table and she hauled me out of there_. "I remember that. First date," she smiled bashfully.

Faith chuckled, "So it's my turn now."

"Fine," Willow returned with a mock huff and earned a little kiss on the forehead, before Faith turned around and walked out of the door.

Ten minutes later, the slayer was back with melted cheese on bread and cold beverages. The twosome sat down on the bed and watched some old black-and-white movie while eating. At least they thought that it is a black-and-white movie, though Faith found herself more watching Willow than the movie.

Movies on Faith's crappy old TV was a funny thing to witness. Every movie was black-and-white, even the color ones, for example "My Stepmother is an Alien". Faith explained to her girlfriend which movie she had seen earlier and told Willow that she thought of the little one as a Red-lookalike. Willow replied that this was not the first time that she had heard someone say that.

Neither of them mentioned the little Oz-lookalike.

They eventually lay down to sleep, mostly because Faith was on the verge of falling asleep – TV had that effect on her.

Faith lent Willow a big T-shirt and even she herself – quite contrary to her preferred … sleeping attire, meaning, sleeping in the nuddy – put on a shirt. Willow wouldn't have minded. But Faith did it deliberately; she didn't want Willow to feel uncomfortable around her or put pressure on her. She feared that to Willow's brain her sleeping naked might translate to her wanting sex.

Not that she didn't find Red hot…far from…

And under normal circumstances – or rather, in former times – it was probably the right assumption. Sex used to define her. 'Hi, I'm Faith. I have sex frequently and like to brag with it.' Though earlier she didn't just 'do it' because she wanted to, but because she felt that she needed to. Because what else was she good at when it came down to interpersonal things? Touchy-feely stuff? No…

Willow though…with Willow she felt that she didn't have to prove anything…sexually, which is what sex had been about for her in most cases. Willow didn't see her in just that way – and vice versa. And more importantly, she allowed herself be seen as something else. Even a cuddle-monkey. Which was new and unusual for Faith, but definitely didn't make her feel uncomfortable.

Besides Faith knew that her confession about Xander and the break-up with Oz were still fresh on the witch's mind. And she wanted to give her time to fully deal with it, before they – finally as a couple – rushed ahead and did…other things.

Of course there was some sexual banter between them and hands in certain places, but Willow always knew when and if she was being serious about it or not. And it felt extremely good. In this respect it was similar to what she and Oz had had; only with the prospect that something could happen if she really wanted to.

Not that she thought that Oz had never really wanted her…in that way. It was just that…Faith was 'easier' in that way, and Willow didn't mean that as a bad thing. And she still loved Oz for never putting any pressure on her.

And she'd always love him, for the many great traits he had. But now, she loved Faith a little more.

And so she and said girl just lay there in bed together. And cuddled and smooched their way to a content sleep.

_To be continued..._

* * *

**A/N: **Did I already mention that "My Stepmother is an Alien" doesn't belong to me either? No? Okay, now you know. And, come one, how could I not use a movie that has "little Willow" and "little Oz" in it...? :P


	22. Panty for your Thoughts

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. Parts of the dialogue taken from the episode "Doppelgangland". No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the because of...what do you call this again...oh, right, "life"! ;)  
**Thanks to: **My lovely betas Wil-Lehane- and K  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

**A/N: **Technical updating problems with this one...hope it works now :)

* * *

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO -- PANTY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS 

"Oz, man," Xander shouted as he saw him walking along one of the Sunnyhell High corridors.

The young werewolf allowed him to catch up with him and uttered a short, "Hey."

Xander fell into step beside him and for a few moments none of them said a thing. He glanced at Oz sideways, waiting for some sort of reaction. When it didn't come, he started, "So, uh...," he stopped, not sure how he should phrase his question.

But Oz got it anyway. "Good," he replied, knowing that Xander wanted to ask him about how he felt. 'Good' might be a little bit exaggerated, but at least he was on his way to being something akin to 'good'.

It didn't really sound convincing to Xander's ears, but Oz's voice always sounded the same, even when he was being sarcastic or sad. "So, no...hard feelings?"

"No," he said and looked at Xander, and his eyes showed that he was not holding any grudges. Though that would be more than understandable.

"Do you know why?" Xander eventually inquired. Because his and Willow's break-up was something he didn't really understand. He thought that they were okay again.

Oz considered Xander's question for a moment, thinking that he maybe knew more than he was letting on. Being around Willow and Buffy constantly…he might have noticed something. But to him, the other man looked oblivious. "Not really," he shrugged, "guess it just didn't work anymore."

"Sorry." Xander felt guilty. He knew that he was at least partly responsible for the crack in their relationship. The only thing he could do now was offer some sort of help. "You know, if you need to talk..."

"Thanks," Oz replied. It was sort of weird to accept help from someone who had split him and his girlfriend up the first time around, but in this situation it didn't feel that bad. "I appreciate it," he smiled a little.

* * *

Buffy and Willow walked along the same hall, destination library. Of course the redhead hadn't told her best friend that she had spent last night snuggling and smooching with Faith. They still agreed on not telling anyone about it – at least for a while. It gave them the advantage of enjoying the first moments of their relationship alone and without having to answer possibly embarrassing question and having to deal with dumbfounded looks from fellow slayers and watchers and slack-jawed, lusty facial expressions from certain males of the species.

No, this way Willow got to have Faith and especially the cute-Faith moments all to herself.

Turns out that the slayer could be really grumpy if one dared to wake her in the early morning hours. Not grumpy in an angry way, more grumpy in a pull-blanket-over-the-head-and-grunt-unintelligible-remarks way. Willow had only woken her up because she had needed something…

Of course Willow hadn't thought about bringing additional clothing with her when she had gone to Faith's room yesterday. Not that she had thought about staying over either.

Her outerwear was still okay, since she had changed when she had come home yesterday; it was just the underwear that had been bothering her… She had woken up late, with no chance of going home and change there before rushing off to school. So she had asked Faith if she could borrow some of hers.

If the slayer had been fully awake, she probably would have retorted with a naughty comment and a mischievous grin, but in her half-asleep state she had simply pointed towards her drawer and had pulled the covers over her head again. Willow had opened it and, to her surprise, had found quite an abundance of panties and bras in there. The majority of the panties looked as if they had never been worn._ Go figure_. Willow had picked the most conservative one of the underpants, which had been not really easy, and had deliberately ignored the other very interesting non-wardrobe-items she had found in this particular drawer. She had decided to keep her bra on, since Faith's wouldn't fit her anyway, and had quickly gone into the bathroom to shower and change.

She had come out of the room, had went over to the bed and had given the already snoring slayer a kiss on the cheek and had whispered a little "See you later, honey" into her ear, which had earned her an agreeing grunt. Then she had left, without having eaten breakfast, but she was still full from the pizza, anyway.

Faith's panties began to make themselves known. They were different from what Willow was used to and she desperately tried to not fidget around.

Buffy didn't seem to notice as she told her about last night's patrol. "So then there was this huge, slimy demon and it suddenly had Angel in its grip. But good thing I had a sword with me. I simply decapitated it. Was pretty easy. It's just the slime thing that sucked severely – we got it all over us. I swear, we spent one hour in the shower, trying to get that snot off," off Willow's raised eyebrows she added. "Separate! Separate showers. Oh, no twosome-y shower-goodness for us. Cuz that might end in...and that would be bad," she decided to hop off of this too risky train of thoughts. "Too bad Faith couldn't make it yesterday, though. She loves those extra-slimy demon thingies. Wonder what the important thing was she had to do last night."

Willow's mind was temporarily stuck on Faith and the extra-slimy demons. She imagined Faith standing in front of her, covered in mucus. _Hm, new nickname idea – Slimer! _she smirked inwardly, but tried to bring her mind back to the conversation with Buffy. "Uh...," she thought and hoped to keep the stutter out of her voice, "you know, probably a Faith-thing," she replied and got a questioning look from Buffy, "a-a thing the Faiths of this world do sometimes," she laughed tersely, "you know, like..." _Xander..._

Her boy friend passed them by in the hall, accompanied by her ex-boyfriend. Two thoughts fought for domination in poor Willow's brain: one - this was the first time she saw Xander after Faith telling her about them. Two – she feared that Oz has told Xander about her and Faith, although she secretly knew that he wouldn't do that.

And Oz's friendly expression and Xander's smile calmed her nerves, because she knew that he hadn't spilled their secret. Oz uttered a "hi" in greeting. Buffy reciprocated this and even Willow managed a not too tense smile in both Xander and Oz's direction.

_That went okay...I think, _she thought to herself as she and Buffy continued walking.

* * *

Oz and Xander walked over to their lockers. They split up eventually since Xander's locker was in a different hall. Alone again, Oz thought about Buffy and Willow. Something about what he had just noticed between them didn't seem right to him. As weird as this may sound – he couldn't really smell Buffy on Willow. Well, of course, there was a slight Buffy-scent on Willow, as was a Xander-scent, a Giles-scent or even a Cordelia-scent, because those are the people that Willow spends quite some time with regularly. And after years they had simply invaded the redhead's body, their scents started to mingle, created a new odor. It was this way with all people he knew, though it was a little different with Willow, since he knew her so well.

But he noticed that Buffy's scent was no stronger than the others. Seeing as Buffy was now Willow's girlfriend, this was what he had actually expected to find.

The weirdest thing for him, though, was, that there was one scent, one person, whose traces on the witch's body were far more detectable than anyone else's. More recent. It was a scent he could not quite place yet, but it made him wonder about Willow and Buffy.

He knew that the slayer herself couldn't smell it. Nor could an average vampire. Detecting the finest scent - this was a gift that only werewolves inherit.

He decided to ignore his suspicions for now. Maybe he would ask Willow about this later – although that might end up being a very awkward conversation.

* * *

Down the hall, Willow and Buffy entered the library. "I guess he's dealing pretty okay, huh?"

Buffy asked her friend. For her it was still hard to believe that Willow and Oz weren't a "we" anymore. But the way she saw it, the two might keep their friendship intact. At least something positive.

"Yeah," Willow agreed and was glad that they were not talking about Faith's very important mission anymore. She would have talked herself into a dead-end if Oz and Xander hadn't walked by, "pretty okay."

"So...what about you? You okay?"

"Pretty much," the redhead replied. "I mean, it's still strange...," _Not being with Oz anymore, or being with Faith?_ "but I guess it was the right thing to do. Prolonging it would only have caused more pain."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Buffy nodded in agreement. "Hm, you know what? I should come to visit you more often. Don't want you spending lonely nights at your empty house. We could have a slumber party again, maybe. Like in the good old times."

"Not a bad idea," Willow said. She missed this somehow. Her and Buffy, and often even Xander, spending a night with watching silly movies or foreign TV series, speculating about the content. She wondered if Faith would be up for something like that and remembered that she needed to make up a reason for not being available all the time. "But, you know, alone time is not that bad sometimes. For example, I used yesterday evening to...uh, prepare Percy's tutoring lessons and stuff." _Liar._

Buffy scoffed. "Snyder will be so proud of you," she murmured and sat down on the library, table, letting her legs dangle.

"Don't mock this," Willow replied and put her bag down next to where Buffy was sitting, "you know how he is. And it's better to do what he wants than having him harassing you for the rest of the school year."

Buffy just shrugged, not quite following her friend's point of view.

Giles stepped out of his office. "Ah, there you are, Willow. Could you do me a favor and research this election affair you've informed me about some more?" he pointed towards the dreaded machine behind the counter.

"Okay," Willow replied and quickly walked over to it.

Seconds later, Faith and a terribly-out-of-breath Wesley entered the library in sport's clothing. Wesley was wearing a stopwatch around his neck and held a clip board in his hand. Today also happened to be the first day council's physical evaluation of the slayers.

"Well, that was a blast," Faith remarked as she walked over to the counter, bracing her elbow against it. You could see it in her eyes that she was a little disappointed.

"How did it go?" Giles inquired, leaning against the door jamb of his office.

"Princess Margaret here had a little trouble keeping up," Faith replied mockingly and pointed with her thumb over her shoulder towards Wesley, who leaned heavily on the counter.

"How did it go?" Giles asked again, this time deliberately addressing Wesley. He couldn't help but smirk at his outworn state.

"Faith...," the younger watcher panted, "did quite well on the obstacle field. Still a little sloppy, though," he continued and earned a menacing look from said sloppy slayer.

"Do you, um, feel up to taking Buffy out, or shall I?" Giles continued.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, I'll be fine," Wesley negated this vigorously. "Just give me a minute...and some defibrillators, if it's not too much trouble."

"You're gonna love it, B," Faith informed her fellow slayer with an almost grin. "It's just like fun...only boring...," she shrugged.

"Faith, this evaluation is a necessary part of the Council's…" Giles admonished the insolent slayer.

„I know," Faith replied quickly. "I'm on board here. Just shootin' my mouth off...," she smirked and Giles nodded his approval.

Buffy grinned inwardly and shook her head. "I'd better change," she said and hopped off the table.

As she neared the counter Faith raised her hand in a high-five gesture. "Good luck," the brunette offered.

"Thanks," Buffy grinned, slapped her hand against Faith's and exited the library. Wesley inhaled deeply and followed her on unsteady legs.

Giles returned to his office as Faith pulled herself up and sat on the counter. She leaned down to Willow and gave her a short kiss on the cheek. "Mmm. Hi," she whispered.

The redhead looked up from her computer and at Faith, or more at her current position, half hovering in the air, rather than sitting on her butt. "If you fall down there and break your neck, don't blame me."

"You wouldn't catch me?"

"Well, I'd try, of course, but…maybe I wouldn't be able to, you know?" she grinned.

"Hey!" Faith replied mock offended. "I'm not _that _heavy," she sat up straight and folded her arms over her chest, looking to the ground, pouting.

"I know," Willow pacified and touched her leg.

Still pouting, Faith peeked up at her girlfriend, who was smiling coyly and wiggling meaningfully with her eyebrows. And of course she has a sliiiiiight idea of what is going through the little redhead's mind. _Hm, wonder what__ you__ are thinking about..._

But Willow's mind had moved on to another topic already - the comparison of grumpy Faithy and grinning Faithy. She couldn't decide which one she liked better. Seeing her grin was of course something to make her heart jump, but Faith in her grumpy not-awake-yet state was simply too funny to not to love as well.

"Sorry I wasn't really awake this morning," Faith finally said, coincidently going congruent with Willow's line of thought.

"It's okay," the redhead smiled. "Found everything I needed." _Plus more. _If Faith knew that Willow had stumbled across her sex toys this morning, she didn't seem overly embarrassed about it.

Faith eyes twinkled mischievously. "And...feel comfy?" she giggled and Willow knew what she was implying.

"I've...worn more comfy things, let's put it that way," the redhead reciprocated the grin. "Just glad that I don't have P.E. today..."

"Hm, 'physical exercises'…," Faith spelled the words out, "you know, I think something could be arranged there…I happen to know a very nice broom closet. It's right down the hall...," her eyebrows rose suggestively.

"I'm not even gonna ask how you know about that," Willow pulled a face that was somewhere between amusement and bewilderment. "But I won't...with you in a broom closet. You'll have to come up with something better."

"Fine," Faith replied, her mind already racing, thinking of good make-out spots for her and Will. "But until then...," she tugged on her girlfriend's sweater, making her come closer, "this'll have to do," she whispered and tasted Willow's lips for the first time today. The hand that had a possessive hold on the redhead's sweater seconds ago, now dropped to the counter surface. Faith needed some serious support as the kiss intensified. Though the prospect of possibly falling right into Willow's arms seemed promising, the prospect of hurting Reddie in the process didn't.

* * *

Oz made his way towards the library to drop some books off. About to push open the door, he stopped, stunned at what he saw through one of the windows. A brunette in sportswear – he soon identified her as Faith – was half sitting, half lying on the library counter, one arm braced against the counter surface beneath her, one leg dangling in the air. She was very, very busy attacking his ex-girlfriend's lips over and over...and over…and over… The other girl had pulled herself up a little, making the smooching easier.

His mind put two and two together. Not Buffy had gone and stolen his Willow's heart away, it had been Faith. Somehow this was easier for him to accept, though he couldn't explain why.

He decided not to tell Willow about his erroneous suspicions of Buffy...for now. He didn't know who would be more embarrassed about this. But he felt obliged to tell her, or maybe even her and Faith, to be more careful about where they live out lovey-dovey attacks. Anyone could walk in on them here.

* * *

Giles came out of his office to see how far Willow had come with her research. He rounded the corner, but then stopped dead in his tracks. What he saw almost shocked him more than anything he had seen in his many years as watcher.

He caught sight of...Faith…assisting Willow with research. A notepad was lying in her lap and dutifully she scribbled down everything her girlfriend dictated, while this one searched the net. Here and there Faith offered some appreciated suggestions.

Giles would never have thought that the brunette would do research voluntarily.

A few minutes later, Faith handed him the notes and they looked over them together, evaluating what they had found, before Faith excused herself to grab a shower.

Confronted with the new info about the Mayor, Willow and Giles planned a little "field trip" to the archive at City Hall. The watcher deliberately didn't mention the previous, non-research-related exchange of the two girls he had just overheard, not just because he wasn't sure what to make of it.

* * *

At the city archive the suspicions that the little research project had aroused had gotten confirmed. Not the entire "class" had assembled there; the slayers were patrolling and Oz wasn't with the group. So it was only Willow, Giles, Xander, Wesley and Cordelia, who had been clinging to the young watcher ever since he had saved her from Vamp Willow.

The awkwardness between Willow and Xander, caused by Faith's confession, remained minimal. She tried to treat him as if nothing had happened. Keeping eye-contact might have been a little hard for her, but she tried to play it cool, to not rouse any suspicions. And Willow was pretty sure that eventually she would be able to look at him again without thinking about him and Faith together. But it might take a couple of days.

But it didn't take them a couple of days to find what they were looking for. A file containing information about Sunnydale's very first mayor Robert Walters, who governed from 1899 till 1920. This alone was no cause for suspicion; the fact that he was said to have died in 1920 under mysterious circumstances and his body had never been found, however, was. Especially since they found a picture of him where he looked astoundingly familiar. Like a 19th century version of Sunnydale's current mayor Richard Wilkins III.

Further researches uncovered further obscurities, a man named Reginald Warner, who appeared as mysteriously as Walters had disappeared and won the antedated elections with over 80 per cent, only six months after his arrival in Sunnydale. He as well looked like a perfect clone of Richard Wilkins, as did two others, who, judging from their names, must have been direct forefathers of Sunnydale's late mayor.

Wesley finally concluded that they were all one and the same person and Mayor Wilkins could not be a human being... which the others had concluded already about twenty minutes earlier.

* * *

And now smarty Wesley was sitting in Giles's office, with the older watcher leaning against the book cabinet and Faith sitting in a chair opposite of the watchers'. Today was the day the slayers learned the results of their psychological and physical tests. Buffy had gotten hers already, now it was Faith's turn.

Faith felt that it was actually too soon for all this; because the Obstacle field run was pretty much all they did concerning the slayers' physical evaluation. Which was disappointing. For her. Probably for B as well.

It was all more about psych stuff. For example, weird pictures with ink blots, that made absolutely no sense.

All in all, the tests were pretty much needless, which both Faith and Buffy felt when they were talking about it during last night's patrol. Buffy, a little bitterly, had suggested that it probably was a lame excuse of the council for keeping an eye on them, showing them that the council is in charge of the vampire hunt. What they did during her Cruciamentum was still not sitting well with her, understandably.

Wes told Faith about her excellent physical fitness, which was no real news to her, her occasional unwillingness to follow orders, which, she had to admit, was no news to her either, and lots of other things. And the biggest no-news, but definitely the biggest shocker for her – only because Wesley mentioned it, and that shrink had actually 'diagnosed' it – was her...

"Ahem...," Wesley cleared his throat, "your rather…pronounced…um, s-sexual nature," he rumbled out and looked down on his notes, embarrassed.

A few minutes later, Faith came out of the office with an amused expression on her face.

"Strong sexual drive, huh?" Buffy looked up from her homework and grinned as the brunette plopped down in the chair next to Willow.

The redhead raised her head, curious what Buffy was talking about. She hadn't overheard the conversation in the office; her blonde friend, equipped with slayer hearing, had.

"I wasn't the one that blushed when he told me that," Faith returned with raised eyebrows. "B'sides – don't tell me that you didn't see the puppies and the pogo on Caulfield's desk," she demanded from Buffy.

"Puppies?" the little slayer asked with an incredulous look on her face, trying to decipher what her brunette friend meant.

"Pogo?" Willow asked her girlfriend, but not confused as Buffy was, but rather surprised at Faith's choice of words. She knew what 'puppies' meant in Faith-lingo so it was just a tiny step for her to get the meaning of 'pogo'.

Faith just shrugged. Willow shook her head and smirked, the brunette nudged her leg with hers, sharing the smirk. The exchange was unnoticed by Buffy, whose eyes, complete with scrunched eyebrows, scanned the library. You could see that she still tried to get Faith's implications.

* * *

One day later – Buffy had, by now, understood Faith's 'Puppies and Pogo' analogy, and the imagery had burnt itself into her brain – the inevitable happened.

Faith's ultimatum expired; she hadn't managed to scare up the roughly 400 dollars rent for her motel room, but she hadn't really tried to do so either. So now she came stumbling into the library, loaded with one travel bag and two back packs, and ran into the entire gang...well, almost the entire gang.

Giles and Cordelia were standing near the counter, bickering yet again about fees for way too overdue books, Xander and Buffy arranged the weapons in the cabinet in the book cage and came running out as soon as they caught sight of Faith, Wesley looked up from a book he had been reading in.

"Faith? What happened?" Giles asked his slayer, who was a little out of breath, thankful for the interruption of Cordelia's headache-causing rant.

"Uh...guess I had a little disagreement with my manager," Faith grinned sheepishly. "Need a shelter. So," she dumped her bag on the ground, "who wants me?"

_to be continued..._


	23. Who wants me?

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the because of...what do you call this again...oh, right, "life"! ;)  
**Thanks to: **My lovely betas Wil-Lehane- and K  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

**Warning: **Silliness ahead...

* * *

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE -- WHO WANTS ME?

Faith looked around the library expectantly, looking from Cordy to Giles to Wesley to Buffy to Xander. She noticed that the one person she really wanted to be here was missing. She covered up her disappointment expertly.

Xander's mouth hung open from Faith's question. _Does everything she says somehow have to somehow sound like a sex thing?_

Buffy and Giles's eyes showed concern and maybe a little bit of guilt, because they'd known about Faith's housing situation for a long time and never done anything about it. Cordelia was her usual apathetic self, she didn't get along well with Faith, so chances were small that she'd offer her a place to stay. Wesley just hung back, trying to think.

As if someone had pushed a button, three people started to talk.

"I'm willing to provide you a place to live."

"You can stay with me."

"I want you."

Six pairs of eyes were looking at each other with competing glares, six others simply watched in wondering silence at the eagerness to help.

Giles was the first one of the competitors to turn his attention towards Faith again. "As I said I could provide you a place to live. My apartment might be small in capacities, but..."

"Uh!" Buffy interrupted his offer, clearly not pleased with Giles competing with her for Faith, as weird as that may sound. "Where's she gonna live, huh? Your bathtub??" she asked with a challenging look.

"Well, I was going to offer her my couch...," Giles replied with an annoyed expression on his face, "but now that you mention it...," he pondered, "my apartment might not be the exact right fit after all," he smiled apologetically in Faith's direction and this one nonetheless nodded in appreciation of his offer.

"See?" she grinned and addressed Faith. "You can live with us. I'm sure mom would be happy to have you around. And I would be too." The brunette slayer almost blushed in embarrassment. She wasn't used to anyone scrambling to get her. "Plus we have a spare room, where you could live."

"Spare?" Xander chimed in. "You mean that improvised attic full of boxes and old, musty knick-knacks that doesn't even have a bed in it?"

This time Buffy got the annoyed look on her face and Giles smirked inwardly.

"How about our basement?" Xander asked hopefully and got raised eyebrows from each and every single one of the others. "I know, it seems weird, but...you gotta think of it as an apartment. You have a separate entrance, enough space...it's kinda lacking the bathroom and kitchen utilities, but...we do have those upstairs...," he shrugged.

_Basement. Lived in worse, _Faith thought.

"Two words: dark, dank," Buffy retorted. "She's lived in dark and dank before, as in motel room...well, you wouldn't know, you've never been there," the blonde rambled on.

Awkwardly Xander and Faith looked to the ground.

"So I guess she'll prefer my offer," Buffy said self-righteously.

"Yeah, better old and musty than dark and dank," Xander nodded sarcastically, but still thankful for Buffy getting off the motel room topic.

"Ha! You don't have a bed down there either, I bet!" Buffy snapped her fingers, thinking that they are finally even.

"No, but a very comfy couch," Xander gave back.

_Now we're back to where we started... _Faith shook her head, thinking of Giles's couch. Slowly but surely she was getting a headache. She sighed softly but then remembered the two other people in this room.

"Well, um," Wesley cleared his throat, "my space is even more limited than…than Mr. Giles's, so..."

All eyes turn on Cordelia, who had been unusually quiet since Faith had showed up with her belongings. Not even one little sarcastic comment so far.

Faith and Cordelia stared at each other. Balancing pros and cons...and cons...and cons of the situation. Truth be told, Faith would rather live in Giles's bathtub than anywhere near Cordelia. And she was pretty sure that Cordelia felt the same about her.

The others were waiting in suspense, knowing how the two girls felt about each other and also knowing that their living together would ultimately end in a disaster. Even if it was only a Faith-and-Cordy-become-best-friends-and-Faith-suddenly-shows-up-at-school-all-made-up-and-in-one-of-Cordelia's-dresses disaster.

Cordelia's mind was desperately trying to come up with an excuse for not having Faith live in her house. 'Sorry, we don't have enough space' wouldn't really do.

Faith finally spoke. "I'm not so sure that this would be such a good idea. I mean, Cordy and me...I don't think that that'd work," she shrugged apologetically and Cordelia sighed in gratitude.

"Fine," Buffy faced Xander again, who was her only competitor left, "do you want us to wrestle it out?"

"Come on, Buff, you know she's way better off with me. You know that she needs her space."

"But she also shouldn't have to live in a dump. And I think she'd love a little mom pampering."

"My mom could give her that too."

Buffy snorted in response. "Oh, please..."

_Funny that no one bothers to ask where 'she' wants to stay... _Faith thought to herself.

"Guys, you don't have to fight over me...," the brunette addressed her friends, but they simply ignored her.

"Your mom?" Buffy continued.

"You know, I could simply stay here, keep Giles's books company. That way I'd have dark _and _musty." Faith said to get their attention. Giles glared at her and she grinned.

"Okay, maybe not her. But Uncle Rory is there all the time. He's a pretty good cook."

"Or, oh, speaking of dark and musty – maybe a nice crypt," Faith tried again. "I spend a lot of my time on the cemeteries, anyway."

"I bet my mom's better," Buffy retorted, apparently not having heard Faith's interjections.

Faith gave up and walked over to where Giles was standing, Cordelia, in the meantime, consorted with Wesley at the table.

Buffy and Xander glared at each other, thinking of new arguments.

"Thank God I at least have one remotely normal slayer," Giles whispered so that only Faith could hear it. Faith smirked; she could live with 'remotely normal', 'entirely normal' would be too much to handle.

But taking Buffy and Xander's current behavior into consideration, she truly was 'remotely normal'. They were behaving like little children. The only thing missing was the shin-kicking and hair-pulling. Buffy huffed and folded her arms. Xander stared at her, tight-lipped and with scrunched eyebrows. They both knew that they had to find a solution, but neither of them was willing to give in.

"Oh, I have an idea," Cordelia blurted out and all eyes turn towards her – once again. The mentally sane observer could see the mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

Panic showed on Faith's face. _Cordelia? Idea? This can't be good...I just wish Willow was here..._

* * *

Willow stepped out of a classroom, with Percy right behind her. Today's tutoring session had been longer than she had anticipated. When they met Oz in the hall, Percy said his goodbyes, but not before telling Willow to say 'hi' to her brunette friend for him.

This made Willow frown a little, at least internally. _You better not be thinking what I think you're thinking. She's off limits for you, buddy...of course he doesn't know that she's mine, but still..._

Oz accompanied Willow on her way to the library and told her that he had seen her and Faith smooching in the library yesterday. Willow managed to blush and accepted Oz's advice to be more careful around school.

"Next time we'll just go into the stacks," Willow joked as they entered the library and saw Buffy, laden with one back pack. Xander was about to drag the other one from the counter.

"Careful, Xan, that thing is...," Faith started as she saw her back pack being lifted up and...being dropped to the floor with a loud thud, "...heavy...," she sighed and folded her arms. She knew that Cordelia's idea would mean nothing but trouble.

"Ouch," Xander hissed and shook his hand in pain, "jeez, Faith, is this thing crammed full with bricks?"

"Actually...," _that's my comic books... _Faith started but got ignored yet again as Buffy heaved the back pack on Xander's shoulders. His legs almost gave out on him under the weight, but in the end he managed to remain standing...at least somewhat...

"Okay, let's move on here," the blonde said to her best male friend and stepped in front of him. "I wanna go home sometime today." She held her hand out in front of her, her eyes willing him to do the same.

"I don't get why we have to play rock, paper, scissors for the duffel. You have super strength, you should take it," he argued.

"If you're in luck, then we'll have a remotely fair challenge. If you're not, the better for me," the blonde grinned nastily.

The confusion on Willow and Oz's faces...or at least in Oz's brain…grew with every second as they tried to make head or tail of what they saw. "...What's going on...?" Willow asked, while Xander reluctantly agreed to a game of rock, paper, scissors.

Giles, Cordelia, Wesley and Faith finally acknowledged the two Johnny's-come-lately that were making their way over to the library table, where the sane part of the group was situated.

"They're bickering over who gets to have me," Faith explained with a not-too-happy twinkle in her eyes.

"Huh?" Willow raised her eyebrows, but then the true meaning of the bags hanging from shoulders and sitting on the floor hit her. "You got evicted?"

Faith shrugged in a kinda-was-to-be-expected gesture. "Little landlord-tenant-dispute..."

"Scissors cut paper," Buffy shouted from near the counter. "1:0 for me. If I win the next one, you get to carry that thing," she informed Xander.

Willow temporarily focused her attention towards her two best friends. "And...what are they doing now?" she inquired, a little taken aback by their behavior.

"Well, I came here," Faith continued, "told them what happened, and they offered: Giles offered me his bathtub, Xander offered me his basement, Buffy her spare room slash attic. And then Giles stepped out, or was talked into stepping out...Well, then I offered to sleep on a cozy little shelf somewhere in the stacks or in a nice crypt, but they weren't listening anymore, anyway."

Willow scrunched her eyebrows at Faith's last sentence.

"Kidding. Anyway, pretty much ended up being a fight between Buffy and Xander...and then Queen C here had an idea...," the shorter brunette said under her breath.

"I was being sarcastic...," the other one said apologetically.

"Ha! Stone falls into fountain. 2:0 for me, loser!" Buffy grinned triumphantly. She quickly picked up the duffel and intended to load it on Xander.

_Good thing school's over for the week. This'll get embarrassing_, Faith thought and then shook her head, coming back to the topic. "So now Charlie B. and his little friend...not sure, Peppermint Patty, maybe...get ready for their run around the campus. First one who makes it back here wins the first and hopefully last annual Faith award..."

"Meaning...," Willow started.

"They get to take me home," Faith finished her thought.

"Oh." Willow said softly. She turned towards her friends. "Can I...," Willow wanted to make an offer as well, but yet again the two bickering children interrupted.

"What, Peppermint Patty?!" Buffy asked outraged, for once distracted from her childish argument. She dropped the duffel bag. "Why do I get to be..."

"I'm not Charlie Brown," Xander said, but not quite as annoyed as Buffy, "I'm Snoopy," he announced proudly.

"Faith is much more Peppermint Patty than I am!" Buffy continued miffed. "She's the one with that voice and the funny accent and the tendency for giving people nicknames…"

"Watch it," Faith admonished her. But seeing that she was confronted with several pairs of raised eyebrows that were practically saying 'She kinda has a point', Faith huffed. She didn't want to be Peppermint Patty.

"Oh, this is interesting," Cordy chimed in, "who am I?"

"You can be Marcie...," Buffy said. Off Cordelia's warning look she adds, "...or Lucy...". But seeing Faith's sulking expression, "…unless Faith claims that title…"

"Hey, Giles can be Schroeder...," Xander thought, on a run right.

"No, Oz is Schroeder," Buffy disagreed.

"Hm," Faith mulled it over, impressed about what a tiny little remark of her actually started. _Well, at least they've forgot about their 'mission'...for now... _

Xander pondered it over as he sized up the two, and Buffy followed suit. Even the rest of the Slayerettes thought about it, although Willow would rather move on and come back to the thought that was running through her brain right now.

"Hm. Right," Xander agreed with Buffy's observation.

"Hey, if you want to be Snoopy," Cordelia said to Xander, "then Giles can be Charlie, what do you think? He's the one getting knocked unconscious all the time..."

Giles cleared his throat threateningly.

"The way I see it, I get to be stuck with Marcie, so you just have to deal with it being Charlie, okay?" Cordy retorted.

"Okay...that said," Willow started, "I want to make an offer," she said and immediately her heart started beating faster as she saw all eyes turn on her. "I want Faith...," Buffy looked at her in shock, "to-to live with me, I mean!" she hurried to explain.

"You mean that?" Faith asked, hope blossoming in her again. This was actually what she had wanted to happen when she had showed up here, but she had no idea how Willow would react if she would straightforward ask her if she could move in with her.

Right this moment, Willow would love nothing more than to rush over and kiss her girlfriend senseless – the slayer's insecurity was just too cute sometimes. But of course she understood her anxiety. Their relationship was not even a week old, so moving in together might be risky. Well, not too risky to try, at least. "Of course," Willow replied, with a gentleness in her voice that was lost on the majority of the people in the library – except for Faith...and Oz, the only one who knew about them.

"Hey, hey, we were here first," Xander argued and Buffy nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Guys, I'm not goods that you get to bid for," the little brunette said between almost gritted teeth. For her, Willow was the one and only option. Buffy and Xander offering was totally sweet and them fighting over her almost even more, though slightly head-ache-causing, but for her there could only be one.

"What can Willow offer that we can't?" Xander wanted to know.

Faith had to bite her lips hard to not blabber out what crossed her mind, Willow looked to the floor ashamed.

"A guestroom that doesn't serve as storeroom and isn't down in the basement?" Cordelia suggested hopefully. At least that is what she had noticed from her one visit at Willow's.

"Are you trying to run down our offers?" Buffy asked her. "At least we _did _offer."

"Don't get snippy with me, Miss I'm-acting-totally-crazy-today," Cordy glared.

"Speaking of acting crazy," Faith continued Cordy's thought, "put the back packs down, you two. The running around the campus is not gonna happen."

"What? Willow walks in, says she wants you and suddenly you give us the go-by?" Xander asked, almost a little sad, as he let the back pack sink from his maltreated shoulders.

"It's not that," Faith replied and tried to read Xan's face. _Is he joking or is he being serious...?_

In the meantime Willow prepared herself for having to defend her offer. Oz, who was standing right next to her, made up his mind. "I think it would be good if Faith moved in with Willow," he said and immediately evoke a total silence.

All eyes turned on him, three pairs of surprised ones, two pairs full of agreement and two pairs frozen in a mixture of astonishment, hope and a bit of anxiety. "I mean, she has a relatively big house, her parents are never there...and Faith is a slayer – which for me translates to more safety."

"Yes, very valid points," Giles fell in with the young man, "I agree. Willow is the best option by far." Wesley nodded agreeing, as did Cordelia. Even Buffy seemed partway convinced.

The lovers were surprised about this sudden and quick, and more importantly most favorable solution of the problem. The solution coming from Oz was somewhat unexpected, but maybe this was his way of showing that he was really okay with 'them'.

"You should've showed up sooner...," Faith mumbled in Willow and Oz's direction, with only a slight hint of grumpiness. Her happiness dominated since they were finally moving on now.

"Hey, what about _my _safety?" Xander tried one last time, but half-heartedly, since Faith living with Willow was acceptable for him. Buffy just shook her head and Xander smiled dismissingly as he dropped the matter.

At last everyone silently agreed on Faith staying with Willow, since Oz's arguments appeared to be reasonable. Faith made a mental note to thank him for this sometime later.

"Let's just hope, for Willow's sake, that Faith doesn't bring a different guy home every night," Cordelia commented. Xander laughed nervously and Willow blushed and grinned at the same time.

"I'll try to behave...," Faith retorted with a mocking tone in her voice.

"Anyway, what about you two?" the taller brunette addressed Willow and Oz. "Faith butting in on your snuggle-time?"

Willow and Oz looked at each other and then at Cordelia. None of them said a thing, neither did Buffy and Xander. Finally Faith explained, "They're...not together anymore...," she said, careful not to look the other brunette in the eyes, because this might betray her.

"What?" Cordelia asked surprised "You broke up? Why am I always the last to know?"

"You're not the last to know, Marcie," Buffy chimed in.

"Yeah, I think Charlie and Linus didn't know either, right?" Xander asked.

Giles nod-shook his head, agreeing on the not-knowing but still disapproving of his new nickname. Wesley looked confused, trying to figure out… "Excuse me...who is Linus?"

"Oh, he's that guy running around with his security blanky all the time and getting messed around by Lucy...as well as Charlie, by the way...," Buffy explained with an evil grin. Giles and Wesley looked at the probable Lucy in question and Faith smiled her most charming smile.

"Well, can I be someone else?" Wesley asked.

"You wanna be Marcie?" Buffy retorted.

"Okay, before we start getting silly again," Willow tugged on Faith's arm, "I think I'll just take Lucy/Peppermint Patty home with me," she dragged Faith over to where Buffy, Xander and the bags were standing.

"Wait, who am I, if she's both?" the little blonde asked.

"Sally?" Xander asked as Willow started to lift one of the back packs, Faith tried to stop her.

"Do _you _wanna be Marcie?" Cordelia asked hopefully. "I'd still prefer to be Lucy..." Giles and Wesley looked at her warily.

"Ooph," Willow grunted as she reluctantly had to drop the pack into Faith's arms.

Faith smiled at her, trying to come up…with a Peanut-name for her. Seeing Willow's distressed look and her shaking out her delicate, little arms, it hit her. "I think Woodstock's tiny wings are too weak to carry. Anyone wanna help us?" The slayer asked.

"Hey, isn't Woodstock a guy?" Cordelia asked, as Buffy went over to the bags.

_To be continued..._

* * *

**A/N: **As far as I remember I don't own Charlie and his pals either. They belong to the amazing Charles M. Schulz.

**A/Nother One: **And thanks again for your reviews, guys. I'm loving each and every single one of them :)))


	24. Home Sweet Home

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the because of...what do you call this again...oh, right, "life"! ;)  
**Thanks to: **My lovely betas Wil-Lehane- and K  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

**A/N: **Whoo, I'm happy that you all were so happy with the Peanuts-chapter :) And, yep, Snoopy: Xander, Chuck: Giles, Woodstock: Willow, Lucy: Cordy, Wes: Linus, Schroeder: Oz, Peppermint Patty: Faith and Sally: Buffy. I think my mind originally wanted to Faith into Lucy because of the hair... oh, wait, that would mean, Willow would have to be Peppermint Patty... weird... :P And, oh, ever think about that Linus and Lucy are siblings? Now, what does that mean for Wes and Cordy? hehe

* * *

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR -- HOME SWEET HOME

After discussing the sex of Woodstock…the bird, of course – they knew that he was a guy, but the character just seemed to fit Willow so well (besides they had been just one step away of making Wesley into Marcie) – and wondering about Peppermint Patty's sexual orientation – which had been avidly discussed by more mature Peanuts-fans for ages and consequently provoked the question what Faith's orientation was…a question, which she had dodged slickly – Buffy and Faith had carried the bags to Faith's new home. Willow had offered to help them, but the slayers wholeheartedly objected and Willow trudged along behind them, mock-disappointed.

Luckily Buffy had officially witnessed one of the two times that Faith had been at Willow's house already, and so Faith, in all her eagerness, did not have to be careful not to run ahead and consequently make Buffy suspicious of how she knew where Reddie lived.

Once there, it had taken them a while but they had finally gotten rid off Buffy, who had been an extra-persistent visitor today.

And now Faith was standing here, next to the living room couch, the bags sitting at her feet, and waited for Willow to come back from the front door, out of which she had just ushered Buffy.

Willow did so, took Faith's hand and lead her along the hallway her new room. She opened the door and gave Faith the advantage.

"Okay, so this is it," Willow explained as Faith looked around the guest room. There was not much in there except for a dresser, some bookshelves, a closet, some pictures on the walls and – the most important thing – a double bed.

"I think there's enough space here for your stuff. I hope you like it," Willow went on but Faith didn't seem to hear her. "O-Of course this doesn't mean that you have to stay here all the time. You can come into my room..." _our room_ "whenever you want. It's right next door," she followed Faith with her eyes. "Simply think of this as a refuge, you know, in case you wanna be alone sometime or as a stora...," she didn't finish this sentence when Faith hopped on the comfy-looking bed and jumped around on it like a little kid. "Hey, hey, shoes, shoes..."

Grinning but compliant, Faith hopped down and ran straight into Willow's arms. "Okay, Mommy!" she said and kissed Willow softly.

"So, it's okay for you?" Willow asked as she looked into Faith's happy eyes.

"Damn straight it's okay!" Faith kept on grinning, "but I'll definitely take you up on your offer to harass you in your room every once in a while...or even more often. Can't have my girlfriend all alone in her room."

Willow smiled. She had to think about that weird cliché that a lot of lesbian couples just happened to move in with each other after their first date. Faith and her had had one, technically. _Hm, cliché confirmed._

None of them knew if this thing between them would be a long-lasting relationship or just a temporary thing, but that was not really important right now. They just had to wait and see.

"Do you need me to help you unpack?" Willow asked after a while.

"I think I can handle it," Faith replied. "Besides," she flinched a little, "I haven't eaten anything all day. I'm kinda hungry."

"Oh, sure, I'll make you something. Doesn't take long," the redhead walked out of the room, her slayer followed close behind, intending to retrieve the first bag. She may be hungry, but not too hungry to carry.

* * *

It took Faith only about fifteen minutes to unpack. The comic books – the most valuable things in her possession – were put neatly on the bookshelves, the rest was thrown rather carelessly into drawers and into the closet. Faith had never been the tidiest person and even living with Willow wouldn't change that, she was afraid. She just hoped that it didn't bother her girlfriend.

Faith briefly thought about going into the kitchen to help Willow, but she was too curious to simply pass the room at the end of the hall by. Besides, the redhead said that she could come into her room whenever she wanted… Right now she wondered why she hadn't snuck a peak in there her first time here…

She pushed the door to the room open and the girlish-ness she saw there almost overwhelmed her. She entered it and looked around. The light-blue walls were decorated with lots and lots of pictures and some pennants of Sunnydale High, the shelves were full of textbooks, some of them concerned with magic, and stuffed animals, the bed, also decorated with stuffed animals, looked almost too comfy to not repeat her jump-attack on it. She found a lot of cute knick-knacks on the several drawers and bedside tables and... _an empty aquarium...?_

Faith decided to ask Willow about this later. Now it was time to do some more exploring. She found pictures of the entire Scoobie gang on Willow's desk, including two with Oz. One of them did even had Joyce in it.

Finally she marveled at Willow's French doors and looked out into the big lawn, but then someone in a cage at her feet demanded attention.

* * *

Willow came into her room and immediately her eyes fell on the slayer sitting indian style on the floor and playing with her newest...'pet'. Amy and Faith seemed to be getting along pretty well, at least the rat let herself be tickled and petted without protest.

She leaned against the door and watched for a little while. Right now Faith looked more like a six year old girl with her favorite cuddly pet; not like a sixteen year old that could kill things with her bare hands. And Amy appeared to be a normal rat; to the unknowing observer at least – people that knew the truth could still see human being Amy in there.

"That's Amy," Willow finally said.

Faith had noticed her standing there, of course. She didn't look up as she said, "Hi, Amy," and tickled the rat's tummy, which was easily accessible, since the rat was lying supine in her palm. She squeaked as if she wanted to return the greeting.

"She's a girl," the redhead continued and pushed herself off of the door.

"You don't say," Faith scoffed and inspected her. Of course she couldn't really tell if the rat was male or female from what she saw, but the name 'Amy' kind of gave it away.

"No, really, Faith...," Willow insisted and for the first in forever Faith looked up from her fascinating new friend. "She's really a girl. She turned herself into a rat three months ago."

"Huh?" was the only reply Faith could think of. In shock she almost let poor Amy plop to the ground, but caught her in the last second. She put the rat firmly on her hand again, on all fours, eyes facing towards her.

She eyed her suspiciously, as Willow explained, "Remember the little Hansel and Gretel incident?" Faith nodded at this. Again an event she hadn't witnessed herself and just knew about it from what the others have told her. "Amy's a witch, too...or she was one before she...never mind. Anyway, they had three people at the stake that night. Buffy, me and Amy. When they set the books on fire, Amy got scared, just like we all did, but she actually had the power to do something about it. So she used a spell to turn herself into a rat and took off, before Giles and Cordelia burst in and saved us. We found her a few hours later in the basement of City Hall, after we baited her with some cheese."

"And now she lives with you," Faith replied, still looking Amy into the eyes.

"Well, we couldn't just hand her over to her dad. I mean, he knows that she is a witch, but _that _might be a little hard for him to handle. Besides I'm trying to de-rat her, and we figured it's probably best if I keep her for now."

Faith nodded in agreement.

"You know, she turned Buffy into a rat once too...," Willow mentioned and Faith looked up surprised, imagining a little furry Buffy, "...but that's an entirely different story, that I won't get into – out of possible humiliation for the entire Scoobie Gang, plus appendages...and because a little blonde slayer might kill me if I told you."

Although Faith was dying to know all about it, she decided not wring that story out of her. "Can't risk getting you killed. That would make me really, really cranky," Faith put on her best scowly face, but unfortunately clenched her fist a bit as well. Little Amy squeaked in pain and Faith softened her grip immediately. "Oh! Sorry, Amy," she apologized.

As thanks, Amy peed on her hand. Thereupon Faith deposited her in her cage and got up.

"Second door down the hall," Willow snickered as Faith headed for the bathroom, whose location she remembered dimly from last Sunday, mumbling a wondering, "Magic..."

* * *

Buffy opened the front door to her house a few hours later and, when she heard her mother potter about in the kitchen, walked towards the sound.

"Hey, mom," she greeted as she headed straight for the fridge.

"Oh, hi, honey," Joyce greeted and interrupted her stirring in one of the cooking pots on the stove for a second. "You're late today. I already thought I'd have to eat alone."

"Oh, sorry about that, but I was at Willow's for about...," Buffy's head reappeared from the fridge and she turned towards the clock with a bottle of water in her hand. _7.20 pm, damn. _"...five hours," she stared at the clock. Of course that was a lie – she had spent four and a half of those five hours at Angel's, but she figured that her mom didn't really need to know that. "B'sides you know you can count on me. Have I ever let you down?" she asked and sat down on one of the stools.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Joyce replied over her shoulder, not even bothering to turn around.

"Fine," Buffy caved in after a few seconds of thinking about it.

"So, how is Willow?"

"Pretty good. She's dealing with the break-up better than I thought," Buffy touched upon what she had told her mom three days ago.

"That's good to hear," Joyce said. Buffy telling her about the break-up on Tuesday hadn't really surprised her since she had had that "I'm about to break up with Oz"-talk on with Willow on Sunday. "Tell her she's always welcome over if she feels lonely at some point."

"Oh, I think she knows that, mom," Buffy smiled and Joyce followed suit. Joyce – mom of three children, one biological, two...'adopted'. She was always happy to have her children at her house, even the Scoobies-in-law, though there weren't any left with Xander being single and Willow being...well, Joyce assumed that she was single... and Buffy being with Angel who didn't really count as a Scoobie-in-law and was barely there as it was. But there was Faith who might be something like a daughter too – if Faith let herself be mothered, that is.

"Wanna know something funny?" the little blonde asked after a while.

"What?"

"Faith got kicked out of her motel room today," Buffy said as if it were only a casual remark.

"What?!" Joyce asked again and turned around fully, this time almost incensed that Buffy waited until now to tell her that. "Why didn't you say anything before? Where is she? Did you tell her to come here? Why didn't you bring her with you? We can clear out the spare room..."

"Mom, stop," Buffy interrupted the rant, "it's all settled already."

"It is?" Mom queried, but frowned when she saw Buffy's little pout.

"Yep," Buffy nodded, "after a long and...okay, gotta admit, weird discussion between Xander and me and partly Giles about where Faith gets to live, Willow came in and, with Oz's help, snatched her away from us."

"Faith moved in with Willow," Joyce interpreted Buffy's explanation.

"Yeah, and that's why I was at Willow's earlier, I helped them carry...and made sure that Faith doesn't monkey about." Joyce raised her eyebrows. "Well, okay, maybe I just wanted to show them that I'm there whenever they need anything."

"You were trying to play watchdog," Joyce stated.

"Well, yeah...," Buffy pouted again and played with the cap of her water bottle. But then she started to smile a little. "But you should have seen those two together. With Willow around Faith turns into a tame little kitten. Wonder how that happened..."

"Hm," Joyce uttered and seriously rethought the Willow-being-single situation. She herself had witnessed the way Willow and Faith behaved around each other. The timid glances, the softening of Faith's voice, the Willow babble reaching new levels of excitement, no matter what she was talking about, and Faith listening intently, Faith laughing about Willow's chicken breast joke and both turning a lovely shade of red. Plus she could have sworn that she had seen them play footsie under the dinner table last week. Buffy's observations and the fact that Faith had just moved in with Willow seemed to confirm her assumptions that there might be more between those two.

Buffy didn't notice her mom's deep thinking as she got up and walked over to the stove. She tasted the tomato sauce and champed appreciatively. "Do you want me to set the table?"

"Oh...yes," Joyce came out of her thoughts and Buffy was already on her way over to the cupboard.

"Great," Buffy said and retrieved some plates, "and then I need to get ready for patrol."

"With Faith?"

"Uh-uh, I'm taking Angel with me. Figured Faith needed time to adjust to her new surroundings a little and unpack," Buffy said as she entered the dining room. "Plus time for Will and Faith to get used to each other as living-community-buddies. And see?" Buffy said and came into the kitchen again, "Willow won't be that lonely anymore and Faith's got a safe place to stay. It's probably really the best solution," the little blonde thought, still a little reluctant to admit, as she rummaged through the cutlery drawer.

Joyce was standing nearby, her mind still on the... she was not sure what she should call them. From what she had seen, 'lovey-doveys' was probably the most likely name for them. She had to smile at this. She had to admit that – if her assumptions were right – Faith was the best daughter-in-law she's ever had.

_To be continued..._


	25. Woodstock '99

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** R!!  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the because of...what do you call this again...oh, right, "life"! ;)  
**Thanks to: **My lovely betas Wil-Lehane- and K  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

**A/N #1: **I hear ya, hotcutii, I encountered technical problems last week as well :) Hopefully everything's fine again in ffnet-land, so enjoy the new chapter. One of the longer chapters too :)

**A/N #2: **Oh, and it's a little smutty... but actually...not really ;)

* * *

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE -- WOODSTOCK '99

Joyce's favorite daughter-in-law and her favorite 'adopted' daughter had finished their first dinner at Faith's new home by now. It had been a very long dinner, they had wanted to make it memorable. Nothing had gone wrong with cooking this time...well, okay, Willow had made sandwiches, no real problem in making those. But Willow had made them with love as Faith had noticed. She hadn't cut the sandwiches into heart or drawn love symbols on the plates with a ketchup bottle, but Faith knew that she hadn't thrown them together carelessly.

And now the slayer was about to show Willow what she had made of the guest room. She had taken Willow by the hand and was pulling her along the corridor towards her room. Her room. The first room that was really homey to her since she had fled from her watcher's house after Kakistos' attack about eight months ago. Her motel room didn't really count as home, it was more a temporary abode. Or run-down hovel. Or filthy joint. She didn't really miss it or care much about most of the things that happened in there. The night Kakistos had attacked, though this one had ended pretty okay, lonely nights in front of the shitty tv, other nights spent with countless different guys and girls, nights that weren't less lonely than the ones she's had spent alone. But there was a handful of memories that she held dear, even not so good ones. About 80 per cent of those were linked to Willow. And Faith hoped that they could increase those pretty experiences and transform them into many beautiful memories.

Faith opened the door to her room and showed Willow inside. The redhead was impressed by what Faith had managed to do. Nothing fancy, of course, but better than entirely devoid of life. Comic books were better than nothing.

Willow's eyes scanned the shelves, now fully loaded with comic books of all sizes and all kinds. Wonder Woman, Electra, Xena, _I didn't know that there was a Xena-comic..._Willow was starting to recognize a pattern. Faith's life was full of superheroines. But there are also others, classics: The Simpsons, The Flintstones_...?_, _Who's Tank Girl...? _and most importantly – The Peanuts.

Which lead her to…

"How did you know that I was Woodstock?" Willow asked the slayer who walked up behind and embraced her tightly. For all she knew... comparing _her_ to Marcie would also have been an option. Especially considering Marcie's "relationship" to Peppermint Patty. Best friends, which, to some extent, was also a part of what she and Faith had. But they were an unlikely pair that seemed zo have nothing in common, really... at least to people, who weren't looking hard enough. Marcie was the smartest of the Peanuts and Peppermit Patty couldn't help playing her protector. Yeah, that seemed to work somehow. Though Faith never let on how smart she really was, and sometimes _Willow _got to protect Faith even. And she never haqd the desire to call Faith "sir"... And they didn't both have a secret crush on Giles... No, wait...

She smirked and decided to hear Faith's possible Woodstock-explanation. Because after all, it hadn't been a wrong guess.

"Hm, I kinda had a feeling," Faith replied and pressed her cheek to Willow's, not really surprised that she had been right...right? With Xander being Snoopy, Willow simply had to be the little yellow birdie. _Not that you are yellow or a birdie..._, Faith grinned.

"You wanna know why I'm Woodstock?" Willow inquired as she clutched the soft, warm hands that were resting on her tummy.

"Well…maybe because...you're meek and little...and fuzzy...," true, Willow was wearing one of her very fuzzy sweaters again, "in a league of your own, language wise...oh, and sometimes clumsy...," she giggled as she walked them out of her room.

"Hey!" Willow grumbled mock-offended.

Faith lead the obliging redhead into her room. Time to explore it some more, since she figured that she would spend most of her time, especially nights, in there, anyway. "And lovable and kind and smart," Faith pacified, "and cute and funny and a good friend and..."

_Okay, okay, okay... _Now she really knew where Faith was coming from. And it fit... really.

"Okay, okay, okay," Willow laughed as they come to a halt in front of the French doors. It was dark outside by now, so she could see Faith's smirking face reflected in the glass. "But the Woodstock thing actually goes back to Kindergarten," Willow continued her original thought.

"Figured," Faith noticed and her face showed that she was trying to imagine Willow as a little kid. Tiny little Willow with big, big greenish-brown eyes, freckles and red piggy tails, probably dressed in something light-green or pink. The cutest thing ever.

But Willow's sorrowful expression showed her that her own memories weren't all that nice, and Faith had an idea why.

"You know, I was the little one, over a year younger than the others...and...," Willow stopped, trying to figure out how to describe it.

"Must have been pretty tough, hm? They were picking on you?" Faith uttered and hugged Willow tighter when she saw her nod reflected in the glass. Little child that is far too smart for the rest of the world. It's easy to see how this could have caused problems for little Willow. "But you did have Xan, right?" she tried to cheer her redhead up by going back to the Snoopy-Woodstock-relation. She knew that it worked when she saw a half-smile.

"He was my big protector," almost like Peppermint Patty was to Marcie, "told the kids off that were bothering me. He was the only one that understood me," Willow thought back at those times.

"Well, I guess your Willow-babble was pretty sophisticated back then already," Faith egged her a little more, but the redhead didn't seem to take it amiss.

"You know, and I went over to his house one day and we watched the Peanuts together. I think that is when it all started. And every year on Christmas I sneaked out of here to watch "Charlie Brown's Christmas" with him."

"Huh. Why sneak out?" Faith asked and for the first time a long while lifted her head from Willow's shoulder, but just to look at her.

"Being Jewish and all. My dad thought that too much contact with Christian rites would spoil his proper Jewish little daughter," Willow shook her head and smiled at Faith.

"And did it?" Faith smirked.

"Not more than other things," Willow replied and her expression got a little more serious. She had an idea how her strict Jewish-orthodox father would react if he found out about her and Faith, and it scared her. But as long as he wasn't here, they had nothing to fear. So Willow decided to forget about this for now and went back to her Peanuts thoughts. "Xander always did the Snoopy dance for me, mostly to cheer me up when I was sad."

Faith had of course noticed the little slump in Willow's mood, but she didn't ask her about it. She figured that Willow would tell her about it when she felt that it was time. Willow had turned her head and was looking outside again; slowly she started to smile. Faith kissed her cheek before she followed suit, looking outside to see what made the redhead smile.

She didn't see a single thing, except for a big garden with swing hammock and several flower beds. So it was probably all in Willow's head. _Maybe she is seeing dancing Xander-Snoopy out there_, Faith grinned.

After a while Willow turned around in Faith's arms, facing her. The redhead beamed at her and Faith had to smile in return. It was hard to believe towards what sort of mushy behavior Willow was driving Faith. Only three weeks ago, she would have laughed at everyone who'd dare to say that she would get all moony-eyed over anyone. Maybe would even have punched them. She dimly recalled punching Buffy for calling her a softie not one week ago.

Willow once again lost herself in the gentle brown eyes. 'Brown' was maybe the wrong term for them since Willow very often had trouble telling the black of the pupil from the supposed brown of the iris. _Is black a legitimate color for human eyes...?_

"You know, I'm not Snoopy, but I've got a dance, too," Faith brought Willow out of her thoughts.

"Huh? Oh! Okay...," Willow replied, from the twinkle in Faith eyes she knew that this dance was probably less innocent than the Snoopy dance.

"Want me to show you my dance? It's actually one for couples," Faith grinned.

"I'm not really a good dancer," Willow cringed inwardly.

"Don't say that," Faith said sternly. From what she had experienced with Willow, she had a feeling that the redhead was making herself smaller than she actually is. "B'sides with a teacher like me nothing can go wrong." She took Willow's hand.

"You're pretty full of yourself, huh?" Willow asked mockingly and waited for what Faith was about to show her next.

"Something wrong with that?" Faith replied and pulled Willow towards her, nose to nose.

"No, not at all," Willow had to admit as she stared into those black eyes yet again.

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear," Faith whispered seductively and brought her other hand down on Willow's tummy.

The other girl had an idea about where that hand would go next, so she was pretty surprised when the hand didn't move lower, but instead gave her a gentle slayer-sized love tap that would have sent her whirling around the room...if it wasn't for the other hand that was still clutching hers securely. This way Faith could let her drift away and make her come back easily seconds later.

Willow, now aware that 'dancing' apparently really meant 'dancing' in Faith's mind, let herself be lead by the expert hands of the slayer. She didn't ask if they should maybe turn on some music. Faith seemed to be dancing to her own internal beat.

After a few moments of dancing close together, bodies swaying in unison, Faith tried the whirling again, but this time with a pirouette on the way back, letting Willow drift to the other side of the room. But this movement was too much for the sinews in her shoulder, as a sharp stinging pain showed her. From the too hard pull of her arm Willow bumped into her and they fell on the bed behind them, Willow covering Faith's body with hers.

The redhead got up quickly when she saw her girlfriend's pained expression "Hey, you okay? Did I hurt you?" she asked almost panicked.

"Oh, no, not you," Faith held out her hands so that Willow could pull her into a sitting position. "Guess carrying all my personal goodies around town today didn't sit to well with my shoulder...," she said as she rubbed said part of her body.

"Oh, poor baby," Willow commiserated and probed Faith's shoulders and neck with her fingers. And indeed, some spots felt harder than they were supposed to feel under normal circumstances. "Okay, you stay right here, take your shirt off, I've got a miracle cure," she said and hurried off into the bathroom.

_Great timing, _Faith thought to herself. She had hoped that they would land on the bed sometime tonight, but not like this. _Stupid bags, thanks for ruining my night..._

Seconds later Willow was back, with a box of ointment in her hand. She saw Faith sitting on her bed, still fully clothed. The redhead put the tube of ointment on her pillow.

"I thought I told you to take your shirt off," Willow said with mock seriousness.

"Well...," Faith looked up and pouted a little, "my neck is hurting, you know. I thought that...," she nudged Willow's foot with hers, "maybe you'd help me..."

Willow crouched down in front of Faith and put her hands on the denim-clad thighs. "You're doing that on purpose," she stated.

Faith shrugged with a neutral expression on her face, but the movement still hurt her and she pulled a face. "Mh, maybe."

Willow scrunched her eyebrows in concern. _Maybe not..._

The slayer caught the expression. "Aw, don't look at me like that, honey, it's not that bad," she said and patted Willow's hand. "So, that's your miracle cure?" she motioned with her head to the tube on Will's pillow, just to get that concerned look off of her face.

"Yeah," Willow replied. Distraction worked again.

"Good thing," she said and outstretched her arms in a little upwards movement. Willow got the gesture and started to lift Faith's tank top. "You know, actually I thought we'd end up together on this bed...in a different way," Faith mumbled into her shirt.

"Like how?" she asked as she pulled the shirt over Faith's head, careful that the slayer didn't have to move her shoulders and neck too much.

As Faith's head reappeared, Willow could see the mischievous grin. Faith looked her girlfriend in the eyes and then down at her half-naked self. "You tell me," she finally said.

Willow shook her head amused. "One track mind... Okay, lie on the bed, face-down," Willow commanded and pointed towards the bed with a stern expression on her face.

"Yes, mistress," Faith grinned sexily, scrambled on the bed and lay down, though she knew that Willow request wasn't meant in a sexual way. But she would do anything that Willow asked her to.

Willow quickly discarded the tank top that Faith had dropped into her arms on the bed and followed her slayer.

Faith's mind was still on Willow playingly-commandery tone as she bedded her head into her folded arms. _No wonder her evil twin was dressed like that...little dominatrix._

As Willow straddled the slayer's hips, half sitting on her butt, she had to rethink her position on Faith being the only one-track-mind here. Her eyes wandered over the softly tanned skin of the brunette's back, the view only disrupted by the thin strips of an, again, black bra. _Kinda makes it hard to concentrate on just a massage...I'll try my best, _she convinced herself as she brushed the hair out of Faith's neck. _Even harder..._

Faith lost herself in Willow's gentle touch; she closed her eyes to enjoy it and the sensation of Willow half-sitting on her butt.

Willow willed herself to take her eyes off of Faith for a moment to retrieve the tube of ointment. She rolled up her sleeves before she opened it and spread the content evenly on her palms. Then she brought them down on Faith's back and immediately earned a satisfied groan from the slayer. The strange mixture of cold and prickly on her shoulders dulled Faith's pain somewhat. And Willow hadn't even really started yet.

Willow began her slow treatment, spread the ointment on the upper part of Faith's back, after slipping the bra straps off of the shoulders. She gently caressed the flesh at first, letting it get used to her hands a little, preparing it for the firmer grips of the massage.

The redhead tried to think of something they could talk about, mostly trying to distract herself. _Try to think of something entirely unsexy..._ "So, you've got a secret admirer..." _Wait, that's unsexy? Yeah, probably…_

"Hm. Why secret?" Faith mumbled on the verge of nodding off. "I know that you have the hots for me," she smirked lazily.

"I'm not your secret admirer, goofers," Willow replied as she started to knead the musculature of Faith shoulders.

"Oh," Faith pouted, but Willow knew that she didn't mean it like that.

"I mean, what's secret about me admiring you?" Willow asked and intensified the massage. "...E-E-Except for the fact that the others don't know about it...I mean, I think they don't know about it, except Oz... And I think that's okay – the not-knowing," she thought and her treatment of Faith's shoulders grew more erratic with every word. Faith could practically 'feel' that this was a troubling subject for her little girlfriend. "I mean, we're gonna tell them someday, but I think now would be too early...I hope you know, i-it's not that I don't want them to know, it's just..."

Faith decided to end the babble attack somehow. Lying on her stomach with Willow sitting on top of her made her usual shut-Willow-up-with-her-lips approach more than a little difficult. She briefly thought about bucking her hips and throwing Willow off her, but finally decided against it. _Not like I wanna get rid of her... _She checked if she could reach Willow's butt with her foot if she bent her leg; it didn't work, Willow was sitting too far up. Finally she had the – in her mind – perfect idea and as fast as lightning she moved her hand behind her and pinched Willow's right butt cheek.

Startled, Willow slid up Faith's body a couple of inches and temporarily buried her nails in Faith's shoulders. _Great, that's what I get for trying to distract myself..._she thought as she pouted down at Faith, whose head was cradled in both arms again, as if nothing had happened at all.

Faith had felt the fingernails biting into her skin, but her face didn't show it. _Stupid move, slayer...next time you'll try something different. Maybe...talk. _And with that she opened her mouth to apologize. "Sorry, baby, just seemed like a good way to shut you up," Faith grinned, "and I get it, you know – we'll tell them when the time is right, okay?" she opened her eyes again for the first time in a long while. She could see Willow's face out of the corner of her eye.

Willow just nodded silently.

"So, tell me, who's my secret admirer?" Faith came back to their original topic.

"Oh, uh, Percy," Willow explained as she finally picked up her massage again.

"Percy?" the brunette asked. She didn't know anyone with that name.

"That guy you met at the Bronze last week," Willow continued, "the one you saved from a very humiliating death at the hands of my evil twin..."

"Ah, right," Faith snickered. _So __that's__ Percy. _"Guess he's just thankful."

"I don't know. It seems like he might be interested...," Willow used the ball of her hand to draw small circles on Faith's shoulders, work the kinks out. "I mean, I wouldn't mind if you were interested yourself."

Faith groaned, both of the sudden change of pressure she received from Willow's hands and of Willow's implications. She liked the latter one far less than the other. _Are you kidding me?! Me and Percy-guy? Please... _"Willow, please don't talk about Percy or other guys...or say something like that when you're doing that to me...okay?" It was something between a plea and a strict demand. _And don't be so insecure all the time._

"Okay," Willow replied, a little taken aback by Faith's strictness. _'Please don't say something like that when you're doing that to me'. _This murmured sentence from Faith repeated itself in her head over and over. Faith seemed to enjoy her massage...if only it wasn't for her nervous babbling. Willow considered shutting up entirely.

"B'sides, I hope you know that there's only one I want," Faith turned her head a little more and looked at Willow halfways.

"Who?" the redhead asked, but smacked herself internally seconds later. Faith's face left no doubt about who the slayer meant.

"Reddie, you know who," Faith replied in her softest voice. At least she hoped that Willow really knew who. Willow's beaming features showed her that her girlfriend understood.

"Oh," Willow whispered and smiled shyly. It was kind of new…and strange to consider herself as 'the only one for Faith'.

Faith kept the eye-contact for a long while, showing that she really meant it, before she lay her head down on her arms again and closed her eyes.

Tears welled up in Willow's eyes, yet again. She wondered if she had always been this teary-eyed or if it was just Faith's bad influence. Well, bad influence in a good way – if something like that is possible. Faith was the first person that had said 'I love you' or similar things to her and hadn't meant it in a platonic, friendshippy way. Oz had never said it to her. He may have felt it, though, Willow was pretty sure he did. But he had never said it although – call it a stupid girlie thing – the females of the species like to hear it once in a while. Even if it's only a 'you're the only one for me'. Or especially if it's a 'you're the only one for me'.

The next couple of minutes were spent in silence. Willow kneading and sometimes hammering at the musculature with the side of her hand to soften it up, meanwhile still thinking about Faith's confession, Faith not thinking about anything in particular, just trying not to fall asleep on her girlfriend, or rather underneath her. This was probably the best massage she has ever had. Not a surprise since it was coming from Willow.

And then Willow's touches became softer again, caressing, she felt that Faith's shoulders didn't need any more kneading. The slayer couldn't help but compare the massage to sex – the very pleasurable kind. The Willow kind of sex. The kind Faith didn't allow herself to have before. The soft, gentle foreplay, the main act with no less touching and way more effectiveness, and the aftermath with even more gentleness.

But Willow didn't see this as the end of the show, for her it was just the beginning. The would-have-been-massage turned into something else the second Faith looked at her with her gentle eyes and told her that she loved her – even if she hadn't. Sure, she kept on massaging the maltreated shoulders, but now with a different purpose. Make Faith's pain go away, so the slayer could thoroughly enjoy what she was about to do next.

She unclasped Faith's bra and allowed herself full access to the slayer's back. She observed the other girl's reaction. Faith smirked but didn't open her eyes. Maybe this night _would_ end where she wanted it to.

Willow's fingertips glid over the soft skin, down to Faith's waist and up again, deliberately touching the little linear scars on her mid-left side as well. She had noticed those scars on that night two weeks ago. They looked old, five years, at least, so they couldn't be from the fight against evil. At least not the supernatural kind of evil. Willow had considered asking Faith about where she had gotten them, but this would have destroyed the mood completely. And she was not going to ask now either – for the same reason.

Faith noticed Willow's lingering touch on that specific part of her back. She remembered the exact day that she got them, but she preferred to not talk about, or even think about what had happened that day. Or about the indirect connection of that event to her tattoo.

But as Willow's hands touched the swell of her breasts, all these unpleasant thoughts were forgotten. And when she felt her girlfriend's lips on her neck and the red hair tickling her skin, she knew what was about to happen. She moaned softly as one hand glid along her spine and lips followed soon after. Willow stopped when her lips were halfway down Faith's back, her hand was resting on the slayer's hip.

Faith slowly opened her eyes when she felt Willow shifting her position, lifting her butt from her body and using her hands to turn her around. She obliged happily and looked expectantly at Willow.

The redhead looked down at Faith's barely covered chest and licked her lips. She traced the ribcage with her thumbs and edged higher, towards the breasts. It felt like an eternity since they had been like this; Willow caressing Faith's bare skin and Faith simply letting her do.

Faith watched her with a serene expression on her face. _Why are you this calm, Faithie? Anyone else you'd have upside-down, especially that, and stark nude by now. _But Willow was not just 'anyone'. She played according to her own rules and set the pace and Faith merely reacted to what the redhead did to her and requested her to do. That was at least how it had developed two weeks ago. _My little one can be pretty commandery when she knows what she wants to happen... _Faith smiled at her girlfriend.

Willow's fingers climbed up the swell of the slayer's somewhat bra-covered breasts, like little rock climbers on their way to the top. This accomplished, she covered the breasts with her hands, caressed them gently.

Faith moaned as Willow's hand grasped her puppies. But instead of removing the bra – that was what she thought Willow would do next - the hands suddenly became very still. "Red...," the slayer urged her to go on and covered one of her girlfriend's hands with hers, but then she noticed that Willow's attention was entirely fixed to one tiny little spot on her skin.

Willow heard Faith's purr but didn't take her eyes off the beauty spot on her left breast – at least not yet. She touched it with her index finger and said in her most loving voice, "Did you ever notice that this one looks like a tiny little heart?" She wondered why she hadn't noticed this two weeks ago already.

Faith didn't know what she should reply or how she should react, for that matter. No, she hadn't noticed this before, and she didn't think that anyone else did, either. Maybe Willow was seeing something that nobody else could, a heart in the eye of a beholder in love..._In love...? In love? _Someone was actually in love with her. Faith's breath hitched and a tiny tear rolled down her cheek.

Willow noticed the tear and was worried for a second, but Faith's still lingering smile showed her that this was not a bad sign – it was the exact opposite. She wiped the tear away with her thumb and bent down to kiss the soft lips. The little scar below Faith's left eyebrow and the one in her bottom lip hadn't gone unnoticed by her either and Willow felt that there was a connection to the scar on the slayer's back. But she rather wanted to focus on her kissing right now.

It was a gentle and almost innocent kiss, a little playful too. It was that sort of kiss that girls give you sometimes; not a simple peck, not a demanding, greedy kiss either.

Faith put her hands on Willow's waist and pulled her closer. She enjoyed her girlfriend's way of kissing her; the little playful nibbling on her bottom lip, the nudging it with her tongue, before breaking the kiss and starting anew. _Might not be a girls thing, might be a Willow thing..._Faith thought to herself as Willow shifted position and lay on her. She couldn't remember a single time another person had kissed her like this. Not that she had allowed them to, she pondered almost regretfully and thought about what she might have missed in the past years. Faith pushed this thought out of her head. _Even if I had let them – doubt they would have been as good as my baby..._

Said baby moved her hand behind the slayer's neck, her thumb playing with the soft patch of skin behind the ear. Faith could barely keep her eyes open due to the sensation; but she wanted to, since now Willow was looking straight into them. "It's been...two weeks..."

"I know," Faith whispered and smiled hesitantly. There was still a hint of guilt inside of her; if it hadn't been for her stupid behavior after their night together it would have never been two weeks until the next time.

But Willow would have none of that anymore. In nothing flat she recaptured Faith's lips and this time the kisses were more intense, intended to make Faith forget those unpleasant thoughts. It seemed to work, because Faith moaned happily and put her arms around Willow.

When the redhead was satisfied with the exploration of the full and sensuous lips she kissed a line towards Faith's right earlobe and started to nibble. The brunette groaned and put her hand behind Willow's head.

Willow's hand brushed Faith's armpit on its way to remove the black bra. But when the brunette felt her tugging at the cloth, she suddenly remembered something. "Mmm, Red...," she said gently, but Red simply saw this as a plea to intensify her caresses. She sucked on Faith's earlobe and Faith moaned, almost forgetting what she actually wanted to do. "Red," she tried again, but Willow still didn't react. "Red, y-you sure you want the others to see this?" she finally got out and had to giggle a little.

"What?!" Willow let Faith earlobe snap back into place and sat up abruptly, one hand on Faith's tummy.

The slayer almost started to laugh when she saw Willow shocked-confused expression and motioned her head towards the window.

The redhead finally got it. The blinds were up and the curtains weren't drawn. Anyone could see them here if they'd happen to cross the Rosenberg lawn. Of course this rarely happened, but you shouldn't take any risks. At least that was Willow's philosophy, she knew that Faith wouldn't bother if it wasn't for her.

Willow raises her hand and, with a flourish movement, said "Claudete". It didn't work, neither curtains nor blinds moved the tiniest bit. "Claudete," she tried again, with more force in her voice and this time invoked a little movement of the blinds.

"I'm impressed," Faith said and touched the hand that was still resting on her stomach. And it was not a sarcastic comment, she really meant it. She didn't really have an idea how magic worked, so she had really great respect for people who could actually make it work, even if it was only a little, like the pouting redhead on top of her right now.

They heard a tiny squeak from the other magically inclined inhabitant of this room and Faith suddenly wondered if rat Amy noticed what they were doing and more especially if de-ratted Amy would remember it. Willow's questioning look told her that the redhead was probably thinking the same thing.

Willow got up reluctantly and closed the blinds. Then she grabbed Faith's tank top with the obvious intention to cover Amy's cage with it. Faith laughed because she knew that Willow couldn't possibly make _that _work and a grumbling redhead threw the shirt back at her. An idea popped into Willow's mind and she quickly walked over to her closet to retrieve a blanket. Closing it her eyes landed on the photos of her friends on the desk. She thought for a second, but then turned them around so that they are facing the wall. Then she quickly covered Amy with the blanket and scrambled back on the bed, back into Faith's open arms.

They kissed again, with interruptions through occasional giggles, and Willow finally removed Faith's bra. Then Willow put her hand behind her lover's back and turned them around so that Faith was on top.

Faith brushed some hairs out of Willow's face and looked at her intently. "Beware, Reddie," she smiled and let her fingers linger on her girl's face, "there's some serious freckle-counting ahead of you."

"That's gonna take a pretty long time," Willow returned and touched Faith's hand.

"I got nowhere else to be," Faith replied and kissed her again.

_To be continued..._

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**A/N #3: **Wow, mushy chapter. Hope you had fun, though ;) So that were the first 25 chapters, hope you'll enjoy the next 25 (and more) equally as much. There's still many many... happenings to happen in here :) Thanks again to everyone who has been reading and reviewing. Love you guys :)


	26. Come Morning

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the because of...what do you call this again...oh, right, "life"! ;)  
**Thanks to: **My lovely betas Wil-Lehane- and K  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

* * *

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX -- COME MORNING

In the following hours, they made up for the last two weeks of no sex – very thoroughly. But of course they didn't forget the freckle-counting over all this. Willow had counted 236 freckles on Faith's body, the major part of them on the slayer's face. She had looked all over, but she simply couldn't find any more.

Faith had a harder time counting all of Willow's freckles; it's no wonder that Buffy had called her 'Miss Attention Span' a few weeks ago; she had enormous problems to stay focused and really concentrate on her task. It's quite understandable – who wouldn't be distracted if they had to count freckles on Willow's gorgeous little body? Faith was pretty sure that – even without her slight case of ADD – she couldn't have accomplished that task. Kissing and caressing her work surface always got in the way of the actual work.

She had finally suggested that they could simply "guestimate" or that Willow should do an "algorhythm thing", as Faith put it, on the actual amount of freckles on her body. The redhead laughed agreeing, she had never really thought about this, but it seemed like an interesting idea to her.

The redhead finally decided that actual lovemaking was something that Faith could concentrate on easier. And that is what they had done – make love. For the first time as an unofficially-official couple. In Willow's opinion, they had done that their first two times around too; a little over a week ago, Faith might have objected to this, to the fact that they had made 'love', that it hadn't been just plain sex. She would have denied this, and actually did deny this, deny it to Willow and to herself, though she had felt differently about it.

But now Faith finally had the opportunity to make up for all the pain she had caused Willow. And she did so. Pampering her lover in highest extremes and showing her lots and lots of other things she didn't get to show her on their first two times about two weeks ago.

And when Faith had finally tired the little redhead out – which took her longer than she had thought, gorgeous little redheaded girls apparently have enormous stamina – she took her half-asleep girlfriend in her arms and bedded the shock of pretty red hair on her chest before pulling the blanket over them to mainly shield Willow from the cooling air. She took quite some time caressing her girlfriend's back until she noticed Willow's breathing getting even and shallower, obvious signs that the redhead was fast asleep now. She herself drifted off to a more than contented sleep soon after.

Willow subconsciously started to cling to Faith during her sleep, one hand clutching the slayer's arm, the other entangling itself in the pretty brown hair. Maybe she wanted to make sure that the slayer couldn't scamper off again. But of course the other girl wouldn't do that – not even in her wildest dreams…or nightmares…

* * *

After some hours of sleep, Faith was the first one to wake up again. She noticed Willow's secure grip on her and smiled down at her girlfriend. Her 'girlfriend'. Faith was starting to get used to this term, it almost seemed normal to her by now; she'd never thought that this was even possible. Faith, tough girl, loner by default, later on even by choice, actually getting involved in something serious. It seemed like a weird concept; but who says that weird equals bad?

She brushed some of the red hair away, trying to see Willow's face. She couldn't really see much of it, but at least noticed the serene, mellow expression, completed by a satisfied smirk. It was the exact same expression that Willow had worn when she had drifted of to sleep a few hours ago. That was the very, very happy expression on her face and Faith knew exactly that she was responsible for it. She felt happy, excited, lucky to have Willow in her life and hoped that this thing between them lasted as long as possible.

She felt the same about this exact moment, just sleeping Willow and her and the morning after. She basked in the moment, took in everything; Willow's scent, so very familiar by now, Willow's heartbeat and breathing, the occasional mumble from the redhead, the surroundings of Willow's room…their room, which was so much nicer than her shitty little motel room.

She could do this for hours and wouldn't be bored.

But a knock on Willow's French doors put an end to this perfect moment. Faith strained her neck abruptly, fearing that someone right now had the perfect view on the twosome of cuteness in bed. She relaxed back on the bed when she remembered the drawn curtains. _Hm…might as well ignore the knock_, she thought to herself and was about to do so, but a more insistent knock denied her this desire.

"Will," she addressed her sleeping girlfriend softly, but this one didn't react, just held on tighter to her slayer. "Will, honey," Faith tried again and drew small circles on Willow's back.

This earned her a mumbled, "My…Faithie…," from the redheaded girl, but did not change Willow's not-awake state in any way.

Faith smiled at this and really hated herself for what she was about to do next. She wrapped her arms securely around Willow and sat up slowly, so that the redhead was now half-sitting on her lap, half-lying on her chest. Willow's head fell back from the sudden gravity it was exposed to. The little witch groaned in protest and opened her eyes just a little. Faith supported the head with her hand; she couldn't help but grin at Willow disgruntled expression.

Willow finally managed to get her eyes focused and zoomed in on the slayer's grin. She returned this but mumbled a slightly unhappy, "why'd'you do that?", meaning Faith waking her up.

"Sorry, honey," Faith replied sincerely and gave Willow an apologetic peck on her forehead, "it's just…we got visitors."

"Huh?" Willow grunted. She had been awake for less than a minute, so her brain hadn't really taken up its work yet. Another knock on the door showed her what Faith had meant. "Who is it?" she asked sleepily.

"It's us," they heard Xander's voice from outside.

'_Us'? As in Xander and…Buffy and who knows who? _Willow's brain was on overload all of the sudden and wide-awake. Faith's expression showed that her mind was racing as well.

Willow disentangled herself from Faith and tried to get out of bed as quickly as possible… which resulted in her getting entangled in the blanket. Quick-witted, Faith grabbed her and kept her from crashing to the floor headfirst.

"Just a minute!" Willow addressed her friends, as Faith freed her from the blanket and put her on the ground securely, before she scampered out of bed herself.

They looked around the room, taking in the mess they had caused last night. Clothes scattered all around the room, hanging from plants and book shelves, ice cream cartons and whipped cream standing on the bedside tables, Amy's cage that was still covered up, the pictures on Willow's desk that had been turned around.

The redhead motioned for her lover to put Amy's blanket back in the closet, before she rushed into the kitchen to get rid of the empty containers of whipped cream and ice cream.

After depositing the blanket in the closet, Faith went to turn around the pictures of their friends. Willow came back and they collected their clothes; Faith made sure that Willow didn't steal her bra again.

Willow gave Faith a little kiss and sent her to 'her' room.

But Faith did not leave immediately; she took some time to watch Willow get dressed. _What's up with people busting in just when we…never mind_…her eyes landed on Willow's tummy just when the redhead pulled her sweater over her head. She noticed the light hickeys; Willow had asked her to not put the hickeys – if she had to put hickeys on her body at all – in places where one could easily see them, and Faith had actually done as she was asked to. And she had tried to not maltreat Willow's skin as bad as she had done the last times; pretty pale freckled skin is much nicer to look at than the same pretty pale freckled with dark red love bites all over. But here and there her slayer strength had gotten the better of her. _Sad thing to cover that body up again…_Faith contemplated and tilted her head.

Willow finally saw her standing there, still stark nude, her clothes lying comfortably in her arms, eyes focused on her. "Go…" the redhead waved with her arms and tried to keep the panic out of her voice. Faith looked up and pouted playfully, before she blew Willow a little kiss and headed towards her room.

The redhead quickly put on the rest of her clothes; just when she had donned the pants she noticed that she had forgotten to put some panties on. She shrugged it off and went to make the bed. One last checking look around the room and then she finally drew back the curtains and opened the door.

It was only Buffy and Xander.

"Hi," Buffy grinned and looked at her best friend weirdly.

"Whoa, bad dream?" Xander asked her and followed his blonde friend inside. "Faith's giving you nightmares already, huh."

"What?" Willow thought that the shock about them being here right was written on her face, but then Buffy pointed to her hair. Willow's hands shot up to her head and she noticed that this more than just a slight disorder up there. _Sex hair? Wild…sex hair. Why didn't Faith tell me this? Oh, you're so in trouble, baby… _"Oh," Willow laughed nervously and tried to think of something. "Uh…we were watching a movie last night…guess it scared me much more than I thought, because, well, you know…nightmares…"

"Right," Buffy nodded her head as they exit the room towards the corridor. "Should I punish her for this? For scaring you? I could tell Giles to make her run laps or something," Buffy smirked.

"Like she'd do that if she didn't want to…" Willow retorted, grinning.

Xander peeked through the half-open door of Faith's room. He saw that the slayer was apparently still asleep, the blanket was drawn up to her head, and only the brown hair was visible. A soft snoring could be heard. "Still sleeping?"

"Well, it's pretty early," Willow replied, but then Xander showed her his watch. 3 pm. "Oh," she tried not to blush.

"But I see that she has inaugu…thingied her room already…," Buffy eyed the pile of clothes on the floor, but also the comic book collection on the shelves.

"Hey, tell you what, why don't you go into the kitchen, make some coffee, maybe. I'll try to get her out of bed," Willow said to her friends.

"Careful," Buffy warned her, "something tells me she gets grumpy if someone dares to wake her this _early_ in the day," she stressed that word on purpose.

"So better not try the wet washing cloth approach, huh?" Xander grinned as he and Buffy walked into the kitchen.

Willow walked into the room, sat on the edge of the bed and leaned over Faith's shoulder. "Hey, little faker, get up," she grinned down at her and brushed some of the mussed-up hair out of the slayer's face.

Faith was still pretending to be sleeping, her face was half buried in the crook of her arm and she snored in regular intervals. "You can't fool me, you know...," she whispered close to Faith's ear and nuzzled her mouth and nose on the brunette's cheek.

When she still got no reaction, she sat up and frowned. _She can't possibly be asleep now… _Suddenly an arm shot up from under the covers and whirled her around, pinning her to the bed. Willow shrieked startled but Faith put her hand over her girlfriend's mouth quickly.

Faith grinned at her mischievously and it was almost hard for Willow to be mad at her for not telling her about the condition of her hair. "Why didn't you tell me that I have crazy sex hair?"

"Because you look so damn cute with it…," Faith replied and twirled some of the hair around her finger. "So…what are your friends doing here?" Faith asked, staring deeply into Willow's eyes.

"Our friends," Willow corrected her and drew one arm around the slayer's back. She noticed that Faith had put on her tank-top the wrong way and…as her hands glid unstoppably lower…didn't have time to pull on shorts, or maybe panties, although Faith still didn't wear those – that assumption had been confirmed last night.

Faith allowed her girlfriend's hand to reach lower. She wouldn't mind continuing where they had stopped in the early morning hours. "No, they're _your_ friends when they're annoying me."

"They're probably checking if I'm treating you correctly," Willow smiled at her. Her hand moves higher, under Faith's top.

"Does it have to be this early in the morning?" Faith replied stubbornly and pouted like a little girl, whose mommy just refused to buy her any more candy.

"It's 3 pm," the redhead whispered, shocked at how long they've actually…played the 'Puppy Love' song this time. She wondered when they had actually fallen asleep this morning. It felt like it had been only two hours ago.

"Well, see?" Faith smirked when she saw the shocked expression. "Early morning. Was a pretty long night…or morning…whatever."

Willow grinned at her girlfriend at kissed her softly. But Faith refused to let her get away with just a teeny-weeny kiss. She took the redhead into her arms, giving her no chance to escape, the kiss intensified and Faith's hands wriggled her way underneath Willow's sweater.

Willow broke the kiss, panting hard. "Didn't you get enough last night?" she asked amazed.

"Could never get enough of _you_!" Faith replied sincerely and tickled Willow's spine with her index finger. Willow rewarded her with another kiss, before she reluctantly got up and straightened her clothes.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, my annoying friends are waiting for me," Willow grinned. "For you too, so get your booty out of bed!" the redhead instructed and turned to walk out the door.

"Otherwise you'll do what?" the slayer, still lying comfortable in her second-choice bed, replied and wiggled with her eyebrows.

"Refuse you admittance to my room?" Willow suggested.

In less than a second, Faith was out of bed and reached for her pants. _Can't let THAT happen…_

Willow giggled and headed out.

* * *

Faith was in the bathroom and tried to get some order into the mess on top of her head – Willow was not the only one with crazy sex hair today. She was more or less successful, but decided to not bother with it any longer and headed out. _No one expects you to look perfect when you're fresh out of bed…I hope…_

"Damn, I had naughty slumber party fantasies running through my brain...," Xander grinned at his two friends, as the brunette entered the kitchen. Willow tried to hide her blush by turning her head and looking at her girlfriend.

"What's that?" She yawned in greeting. "Slumber party?" Obviously Xander's true implications were lost on her as she shuffled her way over to the table and sat down next to Willow. The redhead's cheeks were still rosier than usual and Faith looked confused for a second.

Overlooking the little interaction between the lovers and ignoring Xander's raised-eyebrows-half-grin expression, Buffy spoke slowly, "Speaking of slumber party, Will, didn't we talk about something like that a few days ago?"

"Huh?...Oh!" Willow exclaimed, thankful for the somehow-distraction. "Sure, I remember!" she said and sat up straighter. "You planning something?"

"Well, I was thinking, maybe next weekend, slumber party at my house, what'd you say?" she addressed her three friends.

"Damn straight!"

"Sure, yeah."

"Slumber party?"

All eyes turned on Faith, who had uttered the question. "Like, running around in pajamas, watching videos and playing games and stuff?" she smirked.

"Exactly," came the threefold reply.

Faith guffawed and consequently brought befuddled looks to the others' faces. Could her life get any more normal? A girlfriend, a real home, an almost mom, a substitute dad, and now slumber parties with her friends? If someone had told her this one year ago, she'd probably have called this person completely nuts. "Fine by me," she calmed down and moved to get some food into her belly.

Xander, Willow and Buffy shrugged in unison and watched as the brunette took a huge bite of her croissant. A couple of seconds later, she noticed that she was the only one eating. "What?" she mumbled with her mouth full, "I'm the only one that's hungry?"

"Never," Xander chimed in and reached for a donut. Buffy remained the only not-eating scoobie as Willow grabbed a croissant herself, but at least she drank a cup of coffee.

After a while, Buffy asked, "So, how was your first night together?"

Willow was so very glad that last night technically hadn't been their _first_ night together, because she would have choked to death if it had been. Still, she could barely keep her croissant-holding hand from trembling.

"Whoa, über-great, Reddie's really got a way of making you feel welcome," Faith exclaimed, not even half as caught off guard by Buffy's comment as Willow. She slapped her girlfriend's thigh appreciatively. _In more than one way..._she winked at her with a saccharine smile.

"Thanks," Willow replied softly. Her 'that goes vice versa' was portrayed by a tender look; the true meaning of it was lost on Xander and Buffy.

"What'd you two do? Will said something about a movie," Xander continued.

Before Faith could scrunch her face and say something that would blow Willow's crazy-sex-hair-had-nightmares cover, the redhead butted in with an, "Oh!" hoping to give Faith some time to get in the game. "Remember, Faith? The movie you wanted to see? The one with the..."

Faith decided to play along, though confused, "Oh, right, and the…"

"Uh-huh."

"And that giant thing, that was pretty damn..."

"I know!"

"Yeah...wicked movie," Faith grinned and Willow could barely contain the giggle that the 'wicked weird' cooperation between them caused.

"Hm...," Buffy squinted her eyes, the explanations of the other two were less than informative, "what's it called?"

_Uh-oh, busted..._Faith blanched; one short glance at Willow showed her an equal expression. Her brain raced to come up with a possible reply, their little interaction didn't give her any clue about what Willow's made-up movie could have been about.

Willow had one more information about the movie to work with – it had been scary enough to give her nightmares. But then again she is really jumpy sometimes, so it doesn't take much to give her that kind of dream. She blabbered out the first nightmare-worthy movie that came to mind.

"Jaws!"

"Jaws!" they yelped at the same time and looked at each other perplexed.

_To be continued..._


	27. Weird

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the because of...what do you call this again...oh, right, "life"! ;)  
**Thanks to: **My lovely betas Wil-Lehane- and K  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

* * *

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN -- WEIRD

Buffy and Xander left shortly after that, leaving Willow and Faith alone for some time; the busy blonde slayer had something else planned for tonight – Bronzing. At the moment she seemed weirdly obsessed about them spending as much Scoobie time as possible; it could be her subconscious fear of losing that bond once high school was over and all of them would go their way. This fear was not unjustified, graduation was only a few weeks away and all of them felt this uncomfortable buzz brought upon by the unknown future. What would happen afterwards? Where would they go, and go to school (if they'll go to college at all)?

Willow had all options imaginable, the colleges were wooing her, and this situation could be harder as it sounds. She had far from decided on where she wanted to continue her promising academic career. Her newfound relationship with Faith was just one variable to consider in this calculation.

Buffy found herself in a similar situation; not as many colleges that were wooing her, but an unresolved relationship-non-relationship confusion with Angel, her newly blossoming feelings for the vampire that she tried to deny. Would she stay in Sunnydale because of him? Or would he go with her if she decided to leave?

Xander's situation might seem the easiest to the outside observer. But at the same time the hardest. His SAT scores gave him minimal chances of getting into college; not that he really wanted to go there, to begin with. So he would go looking for a job...right after his trip through the States – he had been saving up money for this little well-deserved luxury for over a year. Done with that he could settle down anywhere he wanted, or return to Sunnydale and keep Faith some company, because...

The younger slayer's future seemed to be the most predictable. Stay here in Demon Central with Charlie and/or Linus aka. Marcie, fight the forces of evil. Give Buffy, the up to date Slayer-In-Charge, the opportunity for a wiser choice of college, a chance to go somewhere farther away. With Buffy being out of town then, she'd have to do her duties without the second slayer as an excuse for ducking out from time to time; no chance to take a hike to get her mind off things. Faith, the dutiful slayer... her watcher would be so proud.

Said slayer with the apparently predictable future was standing in the Rosenberg bathroom and donned her make-up. Her eyelashes were already immersed in black, making them even longer; the eyelids had just received their last brush strokes of grayish-black eye shadow.

Willow, who passed by the bathroom… came rushing in when she saw Faith reaching for her ruby lipstick. "Oh, wait, wait, wait," she stopped the brunette before this one could put the lipstick on.

"Hm?" the slayer mumbled confused as her girlfriend gripped her lipstick-holding hand and put an arm around her waist. Milliseconds later, two very hungry lips were pressed against hers and an expert tongue demanded access to her mouth. Faith allowed it in with a low groan.

Willow ended her possessively-greedy kiss with a loud smacker. A slightly dazed Faith with still half-closed eyes sighed longingly and the redhead gave into another short and comparatively chaste kiss. "Okay, now you can," she informed Faith, gave her a pat on the behind and exited the bathroom just as quickly as she had re-entered it a minute ago.

The slayer finally realized what the true intentions behind the kiss were. As she finished her preparations and put her lipstick on, she mumbled, "That stuff is kiss-proof, I could kiss you all over and it wouldn't leave any marks."

"How tempting...," she heard a laugh from the living room and rushed out of the bathroom with a mischievous grin on her now bright-red lips.

* * *

Ten minutes later, they were on their way to the Bronze. There were no visible lipstick-smoochie marks on Willow, so Faith had possibly told her the truth.

The brunette held onto her girlfriend's hand as they slowly walked along the surprisingly unpopulated streets of Sunnydale. Here and there, she took some time to look at the redhead and the outfit that this one had chosen for herself tonight.

Faith was only little miffed that she couldn't talk Willow into wearing a sleeveless shirt and some tight-fitting pants. Not that she really had insisted on it – it had just been an idea that she had happily dismissed when Willow had denied her this with a shaky voice and a slight blush.

Faith had to admit that there were also advantages to be noticed: despite her secret desire to show off her girlfriend as best as she could…_this _way she could keep even more Willow-y parts all to herself.

"You look beautiful," she acknowledged the redhead and her dark-red long-sleeved button-up shirt and medium length dark skirt.

Faith herself was wearing a tight tank top, which perfectly showed off her cleavage, a leather jacket and black leather pants. The outfit was completed by heavy boots that made her appear way taller than she actually was. Normally Willow was taller than her, but now Faith topped her height by a few inches.

As they neared the entrance of Shady Hill cemetery, Willow was kept from replying to Faith's utterance with equally heartfelt appreciation. Buffy and Xander were walking their way and Faith released Willow's hand, but not before gently squeezing it one last time. The gesture went unnoticed by the other two.

"I hope you know that it won't go on like that," An out of breath Xander told Faith, "You getting the night off to hang out and watch movies with Will."

The brunette grinned. "No one said that you have to play stand-in for me."

"I mean, not that this wasn't fun, but…," he leaned heavily against a nearby tree, "two nights patrolling in a row is definitely work-out enough for me."

"Jeez, B, what did you do to that poor guy?" Faith got out and tried to get her giggling under control. Willow's admonishing elbow in her ribs helped her a good deal.

"Nothing," the blonde replied. "He just did a good running away from a vamp. Don't even think that she really wanted to kill him," she said with a knowing smirk.

"No," pant, "not really."

"You and women…why is it that always the weird ones that have a thing for you?" Willow asked him with a contemplative look.

Xander looked at her befuddled, Buffy raised an eyebrow as she grinned at her, and Faith… her look was somewhere between offended… and amused about Willow's apparent self-categorization. Too bad that she belonged into the same category, though. "Oh…," the redhead grinned sheepishly. 'S'ry,' she moved her lips soundlessly, apologizing to Faith.

The brunette dismissed Willow's slip with a sigh and flung her arm around the redhead's shoulder in a friendly gesture, _only_ friendly to the outside observer, nothing more to it. At least this gave them an opportunity for touchy-feelies in public. "Behold the weirdest of them – our little Reddie," she grinned.

"Out of the mouth of…weirdoes…," Xander chimed in as he and Buffy fell in step with Willow and Faith, who had started to walk into the direction of the Bronze. Everyone, except for the oblivious Buffy, heard the triple entendre in his words.

* * *

The Bronze was packed, it looked as if half of Sunnydale had found its way here tonight. Which didn't always have to be a good thing, as people who were aware of the otherworldly activities know all too well.

Of course, another reason for the enormous crowd was a "Dingoes ate my baby" gig that was set up for tonight. That meant Xander and Buffy at least had a damn good reason for breaking up Will and Faith's longsome snuggle session.

_P__retty damn good_, as Faith had to admit when she saw the beaming expression on Willow's face upon seeing Oz and the rest of the band enter the small stage. The little redhead was still as excited as she had always been when she saw them on stage. Having a boyfriend in the band or not – same diff. She'll always be a Dingoes-groupie.

The concert started about ten minutes after they had showed up, which was a more than perfect timing. It gave them just the right amount of time to 'nicely' persuade some people into leaving the cozy couch in the corner to themselves.

Shortly after that, the two slayers decided to look around the Bronze for a bit, do a little recon. You never know what or whom you'll find in here. It was always better to make sure that everything was safe.

As the third Dingoes-song came to an end and the audience applauded, Faith felt a light tap on her shoulder and heard a "Hey," uttered behind her. Until now, she hadn't found anything suspicious and she was pretty sure that a possibly lurking beastie wouldn't announce its presence to a slayer this way.

So she turned around, intending to find out who demanded her attention right now. "Oh, hi," she greeted the medium-sized, slender guy in front of her. She recognized him immediately. The slightly arrogant look on the angular face, well-built body, blue eyes, chewing gum. "Percy, right?"

"That's it...," he smirked complacently. "Sorry, I never got your..."

"Oh, Faith," she replied and felt her hand being temporarily pilfered for a firm handshake.

"'Faith'...I like that...," he remarked and presented her with his most charming smile.

"Yeah, well...," she returned the smile a little uneasily and finally managed to get her hand back. But now she had to suppress the girly urge to tuck her hair behind her ear with said hand. Always a sign of uncomfortableness. The way Percy was looking at her, she had a very good reason for reacting this way; could be that Willow had been right yesterday.

Percy ignored her uneasiness, tried to move the conversation along…and unintentionally managed to make the slayer even feel more uneasy. "You know, I never said 'thank you'..."

Faith's head whipped up and brought her out of her bashful state. She remembered having heard the exact same wording not too long ago. "Hm?" she squeaked out.

"You...saving me...," he explained.

Faith had a terrible deja-vu. Right before her inner eye, Percy's face morphed into Willow and the scene that had taken place in the Bronze two weeks ago replayed in her head. Of course she had not forgotten how this had ended. Inevitably she remembered what had happened about 24 hours after that. In a dingy little motel room. Between crinkled, little comfortable sheets. Between two people that had only a dim clue about where this would all lead to.

_Let's just hope that __we__ won't end up in bed together…_she thought. But somehow this thought eased her tension. She was simply not used to people thanking her for saving them – this meant a slight paranoia when something like this happened within a little more than two weeks was entirely understandable.

"Ah, that was nothing. I just happened to be there, you know," she smiled almost apologetically and turned to look at the girl that she had saved Percy from, or at least at the much-more-friendly-not-undead-girlfriend-y version. She saw that Buffy had finished her recon already and kept her two best friends company on the couch.

Percy noticed Faith's lingering look on Willow but misinterpreted it. "I never would have thought that she can be that...that..."

"Believe me, she's stronger than she looks," the brunette replied. Even _her_ tiny Will that did not possess her vampire doppelgangers preternatural physical strength. But Faith's comment hadn't been directed at this kind of strength, anyway. "Better not to piss her off. But I guess you know that by now," she admonished him as she turned back towards him.

"Pretty much," he grinned ashamed and refocused his look on her, still sheepishly, "actually I wanted to ask you, if you...maybe wanted to dance."

"Oh...," Faith cringed inwardly and desperately tried to come up with an excuse for not dancing with him. '_I can't dance'…No, wait, maybe he's seen me here before all this already; I'd say…'I'm seeing someone'…? And that wouldn't even be a lie…_

The Sunnydale High jock tried for another routine, since his dance proposal seemed to have caught the slayer on the wrong foot. "At least let me buy you a drink."

"You know what, Percy, I'll make you a deal...," as she saw where exactly they were standing and what Percy was doing before he had decided to hit on her, Faith finally came up with a plan. "How about I'll come over later and we'll play a game of billiard? What d'you say?"

"Done," he grinned smugly at getting to spend more time with the brunette and kidnapped Faith's hand again, this time in celebration of a successful deal that would hopefully end in a successful pick-up.

* * *

Just when Faith had gotten all snuggly on the couch, seated in between Willow on her left and Xander on her right, Angel popped up and accompanied them. For a couple of minutes, the blonde slayer, who was by now sitting on the souled vampire's lap, and the rest of the gang simply listened to the Dingoes on stage.

"Hey, do you mind if I steal your girlfriend for a bit?" Xander asked Faith jokingly at some point and motioned to the dancefloor.

Faith felt inclined to say _'Yes!' _and seize her girlfriend into her arms possessively, or at least to offer to tag along, but nonetheless she gave in without any protest. "No, go ahead, I got plenty of time to snuggle with her later on." She turned to the girlfriend in question with a wink. "Right, Reddie?"

Willow, who had caught the entire exchange, grinned in reply and got up to follow Xander. On her way to the dancefloor, she blew Faith an exaggerated kiss and consolidated their (apparent) 'girlfriend'-status in front of their friends' eyes.

Faith caught it and stored it in an imaginary breast pocket. But suddenly her thoughts rotated around what she was going to do here in the next few minutes. All alone. Well, not really 'all alone', since Buffy was making full use of her Angel-chair not five feet away from her. _Get a room…_she shook her head with a smirk as Buffy started to play with Angel's hair and mumbled something in his ear.

She looked around the Bronze for something else to do. No demonic activity (except the dark, brooding one right next to her) to be sensed here tonight, which meant she was officially off duty. _Bummer_. Across the dance floor, she saw Cordelia chatting with some girls that definitely fall into the 'Preppy-school-girl-slash-fashion-victim' category, about fifteen feet away from them, Percy was playing pool with some other jocks, and – guess what – next to her Buffy and Angel were still snuggling.

_That's like choosing between the plague, cholera and…some other nasty and unwelcome thing…, _she pondered as she considered her options of accompanying Cordelia and her band of princesses, keeping her promise and going over to Percy…and watching Angel hopefully not getting a happy.

But everything was better than sitting alone on an otherwise unoccupied couch and watch others having fun. And thus she got up and headed in one specific direction.

_To be continued..._

* * *

**A/N: **As always, I hope you liked it, of course. Sorry for the shortitude of the chapter :)


	28. Old Friends, New Friends

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the because of...what do you call this again...oh, right, "life"! ;)  
**Thanks to: **My lovely betas Wil-Lehane- and K  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

* * *

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT -- OLD FRIENDS, NEW FRIENDS

On the dance floor, Willow and Xander were more or less dancing to one of the 'Dingoes' medium-fast songs. Of course, Xander didn't kidnap Willow for no reason. His mission – pump his best friend for information about the living conditions with her new roomer.

"So, you noticed any bad habits already?" Xander grinned at Willow.

"Oh, terrible, terrible," the redhead replied and tried to not appear all too uncomfortable with her amateur-y dancing style, "she never puts the cap back on the toothpaste after she used it, leaves her laundry lying around everywhere, leaves the clean-up to me, eats me out of house and home, snores…plus, the morning-grouchiness is really…"

Xander's raised eyebrows stopped her.

"Seriously," she sighed, "she moved in about 30 hours ago. How should I know?...Well, I guess, she's really a little bit of a messy, but otherwise…"

"Well, as long as she doesn't bug you or anything…"

"Nah, not really," Willow replied and had to work hard to not let an all too loving smile slip out. "But, did you know that you two actually have something interesting in common?"

"We do?"

"Did you ever see her comic book collection?" Willow asked him with an amused grin.

A reply, such as '_Yeah, she __did__ show me her comic book collection'_ came into his mind, with double entendre and everything. "Oh, yeah, I got a look at it, when…," his mouth blabbered before his brain caught up. He had promised Faith not to tell anyone about it. "I mean…," and now his brain wrapped around Willow in connection with Faith's comic book collection and he scrunched his eyebrows, dismissing this absurd thought.

Willow had a good feeling what exactly he was thinking about, it was not difficult to put two and two together. She decided to not push him any further, she didn't want to hear any details that could slip out accidentally. "Anyway…"

"Ah, well…they're pretty cool," he replied and then steered his train of thought into a safer topic. "Anyway, I was kidding about the bad habits. But – if she really starts to eat you out of house and home…"

"Then we'll simply hit up Giles," Willow nodded enthusiastically.

"That's the spirit!"

* * *

Faith had reached her destination. Watching Buffy and Angel in their near-smoochie mood, annoying the hell out of Cordelia or defeating Percy at pool weren't really on the list of her most favorable past times right about now. Luckily there was another familiar face present at the Bronze tonight.

She walked closer to the bar and leaned on the counter lazily. With this being a busy Saturday night, it would take a couple more minutes until she could order some drinks. But the barkeep had already noticed her and kept sending looks her way while he waited on the others quickly.

When it was her turn, the barkeeper, maybe in his mid-twenties, short, dark hair, blue eyes, greeted her with a grinned, "Long time, no see."

"What can I say, been busy," Faith smirked in return.

Jeremy, which was blue-eye's name, scanned the Bronze, letting his eyes fall on the people that he had been watching her hang out with throughout the entire evening. Buffy and Angel, smooching, Xander and Willow, still on the 'stand-awkwardly-about' floor. "Having fun?"

"Yup, very," she replied before a low rumble in someone's throat right next to her got her to notice that the two of them were slowing things down significantly. At least ten people were waiting to place their orders as well. "Uh, give me four cokes," she said quickly, trying to not cause any trouble. At least Buffy had been still respondent enough to mumble something like that against her undead boyfriend's lips, when Faith had asked her if she should get something from the bar for the gang. Not that she was pissed about Buffy ignoring her for Angel-smoochies – though she still had problems with the other _vampire _slayer actually dating an exemplar of said species – but a little acknowledgement of her still being there would have been nice. And maybe – just maybe – she would have loved some smoochies in the Bronze as well. With Willow, of course – not with the guy standing behind the counter. Or Percy.

Jeremy didn't let her off the hook as easily she wished; he drew things out, tapping the drinks deliberately slow and trying his best flirty looks on her. Faith had to suppress the urge to roll her eyes, she remembered conversations that she had had with him over the last couple of months. Lots of flirting and dirty offers, from both of them – although she had never been really serious about all this. But at least this had supplied her and possible appendices with free drinks – as long as she kept her promise of showing Jeremy some action someday. Until today, she hadn't done that, and she had never been really planning on ever doing something to that effect, either. Being with Willow, she felt inclined to it even less – she wouldn't do that to her girlfriend.

But as long as the young barkeeper didn't know about her (non)-plan, she considered herself safe. That he didn't ask for money, when he finally arranged the drinks in front of her, confirmed his ignorance.

"Thanks," she said and picked up the drinks.

"Need a hand?" he asked when he saw that she was struggling with the last one of the four plastic cups. If the flirty-look-routine didn't bring him any closer to the brunette, then maybe behaving gentlemen-like would.

"Nah," she clamped three cups between her left arm and chest and picked up the fourth one, "I got it." She looked at him one last time, his eyes were practically burning holes into her skull. _Well, at least not into my chest…_ "See ya," she said.

"Oh, wait," he stopped her, before she could turn around and go back to the couch, "I get off here in about half an hour. How about you meet me outside then?" His intentions were clear.

"Maybe another time," she grinned as if she meant it and walked off.

She didn't see the slightly pissed look that the barkeeper was sending her way.

Buffy did, but ignored it, as she accepted two of the drinks from Faith and accompanied her on the way back to their cozy Scoobie-place in the corner. "Oh, thanks".

"Okay...who are you and what have you done with Faith?" the blonde squinted her eyes as they started to maneuver themselves through the crowd.

"What are you talking about, B?" Faith asked, not really sure what the little slayer was getting at.

"Rejecting Percy's offer, breaking the poor barkeeper's heart, you don't seem to be particularly inclined to go out on the dance floor…I'm worried, is all," Buffy nudged her fellow slayer lightly, though managed not to spill the drinks.

"Okay, one, I didn't exactly…turn Percy down…how do you know about that, anyway?" the brunette scrunched her eyebrows.

"Eyesight. I saw how he looked at you and it all seemed pretty clear to me," Buffy grinned.

"Oh," Faith grumbled deep in her throat. _What do people say about assuming? But she's not wrong, I have to give her that. _"Whatever. Two, barkeep's not my type," _anymore_, "and three, I don't feel particularly dance-y tonight." _And since when do I add "y's" to words where they don't belong… _"Can't I, for once, just sit on my lazy ass on a comfy…" _again…_ "sofa and do nothing?" she sent the other slayer a challenging look.

"All right, all right," Buffy mollified with a smirk. "It's just an unusual sight, you know. You're not getting sick, are you? I still need my slaying buddy, Xander's a poor substitute."

This brought Faith out of her defensive mood somewhat and she laughed wholeheartedly. "I guess that's true. And don't worry about me – in case I get sick, I'll probably have the best nursemaid ever," Faith indicated with a nod to Willow, who was still talking to Xander.

"Yeah, you're in good hands," Buffy confirmed this and Faith grinned, knowing that the blonde hadn't caught the underlying tone in her voice when she had uttered the word 'nursemaid'.

_At least I hope that she didn't catch it…though, would be funny to see that look on her face, while she thinks of Willow in a nurses outfit and me as a patient and…oh, bad thought…that would be embarrassing for all three of us, probably. Come on, think of something else, before her brain accidentally goes there… _Faith told herself as she looked around. When she saw the empty chair right next to their comfy couch, she asked, "Hey, where's Sou…Angel?" Only now it registered on her that Buffy actually managed to unglue herself from him.

Buffy put the drinks down on the table in front of the couch and shrugged. "He went out for a bit. I guess the crowd is too much for him, too noisy or something..."

As Faith put down the remaining drinks, she couldn't suppress a joking "Well, I get that, he's terribly old," which earned her a slayer-sized punch in the arm.

* * *

Minutes later, Willow, Faith and Xander were yet again sitting on their comfy couch, chatting. Buffy had gone out to look for her absentee boyfriend, she was probably feeling neglected. Faith had unnoticeably snuggled closer to Willow and put her arm around the redhead's waist, with her hand almost reaching the soft tummy – though this continued show of affection remained hidden to the outside observer by the armrest that served as a perfect shield for the views of others.

They were talking excitedly about all and nothing, with the occasional side joke from Xander about the new living conditions of his two friends.

During the entire time, Faith carefully observed the behavior of a cute, brunette girl. She was sitting at a table in another corner of the Bronze and kept glancing around her frantically, obviously a little uncomfortable with being here – all alone. From time to time, her look fell on them, often on Xander and stayed fixed for a few moments.

_Bingo,_ Faith thought, as a plan started to form in her head.

When she looked away the next time, Faith used the opportunity and nudged Xander conspiratorially, "Hey, Xan, d'you see that girl over there?" Willow heard Faith's question as well and scanned the crowd.

Quickly, Xander's look fell on the girl, who in her turn quickly averted her eyes, when she saw the threesome watching her.

"Yeah, what about her?" he asked, his look showing some interest.

"You wanna go over to her, maybe? I mean, she's sitting there all alone. Could definitely use some company…," she wiggled her eyebrows in good measure.

Xander knew what she was getting at – their conversation in the broom closet was still very present in his memory. And things _had_ happened since then. Anya-things, to be specific – Anya-things that he hadn't told anyone about yet. Understandable – explaining your friend that you…might…feel drawn to an over 1000-year old now-hopefully-ex-demon that was responsible for some terrible doppelganger confusion not one week ago…would look a little bit weird. And would probably be frowned upon. One reason for not telling about all that just now. Besides, who knows if anything would actually happen between them – until now there had only been secret glances and some short chit-chats.

When he didn't answer for several seconds, lost in his thoughts, Willow and Faith looked at him questioningly, almost challengingly, though Willow with a little bit of confusion about why Faith did just do that.

"Okay, okay," he responded and got up before Faith had a change to turn violent. The slayer looked pleased and raised her cup in an encouraging toast. He took one last calming breath, grabbed his own cup of coke and headed over to the girl.

"What was that about?" Willow asked when Xander was out of earshot and almost out of sight, by now, a bunch of people were blocking the view to (Xander's) girl's table for the most part.

Faith shrugged. "Just a little thing that is going on between us. I'm playing date doctor for him."

Willow grinned and looked at Faith with loving eyes. "You think it'll work?" she addressed Faith's ingenious scheme.

"Don't know. But at least it gives us some alone time," Faith gave her girlfriend a mischievous smirk. "And maybe Xander the chance to not be a fifth wheel," she nodded in direction of the dance floor.

Willow turned around and saw Buffy and Angel, whom the little blonde had convinced to stay at least a little bit longer, dancing to a slow song, eyes closed, cheek to cheek, not caring about the world around them. At least for a couple of minutes.

Though this sight made Willow happy for her best friend…there was also a little bit of envy mixed into this feeling. Dance-envy, which was surprising, since Willow was still…well, Willow and naturally dancing was one of her least favorite hobbies. But it was a couple-y thing to do. A normal couple-y thing. _Hey, when you think about it…they're an even more uncommon couple than we are…sometimes I wish I could just drag Faith out there and show everyone that she's mine…but then there'd be all that explaining where and when and how and why, which leads to me babbling and blushing and hyperventilating and…I don't wanna do that. huff_

One sideways look at Willow's slightly pouty look and Faith felt like a complete idiot. _Of course, point out to her what exactly she __can't__ have tonight, here, in public. Stupid…_

Faith leaned in and whispered a "Soon," into the redhead's ear.

What exactly this 'Soon' applied to was open to interpretation, but the statement seemed good enough for Willow's taste. She turned her head in order to respond to Faith's whisper and found that her lips were not even two inches away from her girlfriend's, that their noses were almost touching. She hadn't realized exactly _how_ close Faith had leaned in.

They both knew that a short kiss – minimum – would be only one head-tilt away. Thoughts were racing behind brownish-green and chocolate-brown eyes, both were weighing their options carefully, pros and cons. Finally done with her calculation, Willow sighed and turned her head away. Faith understood this, since she had come to the same conclusion.

"It's okay, Reddie," Faith reassured and put a hand on Willow's arm, the other one still snuggled in between Willow and the couch. The redhead smiled weakly, but Faith would have none of it and tightened her grip on the redhead's waist. "You know…we _can_ do stuff here. Without anyone else seeing it."

"Oh, yeah?" came Willow's reply, with her brain already trying get in sync with Faith's, which always seemed a step ahead when it came to _that_ kind of business.

Faith looked around, and when she found the remaining Scoobies still busy, she leaned in again to whisper into her girlfriend's ear.

* * *

At the same time, Xander made his way over to the lonesome girl in the corner.

"Um, hi," he greeted her.

"Hi," she replied, surprised at the fact that he had actually come over. Abashed she tucked a strand of not really loose hair behind her ear.

"Do you mind if I sit down?" he asked the most logical question he can think of. The girl looked cute, all right, dark-brown eyes, brown hair, a hint of freckles on nose and cheeks, soft, full lips. She looked like a perfect mixture between of Cordelia and Faith, so naturally she should be Xander's type.

"Yeah. I mean, no! G-go ahead," she stammered and tried to not to blush.

Xander complied and sat down opposite of her.

For a few seconds they just sat there. Staring at each other. Staring at the table. Thinking of something to do or say.

"I'm Xander," he finally pressed forth.

"Oh, I'm Abby," the girl replied, grateful that the young man had remembered the most obvious conversation starter for two strangers – because she had temporarily forgotten about it.

"'Abby'," Xander repeated.

"Well, Abigail, technically," she started, "but everyone keeps calling me Abby, anyway. I guess, they find it cuter…I-I mean, I do, too, 'Abigail' makes me feel like 80," she babbled on. "But actually it's my brother's fault, he couldn't pronounce 'Abigail' when he was little and always called me 'Bibi', and later 'Abby', and…," she stopped when she saw Xander's amused look. "Sorry, I-I guess, I'm nervous…"

"It's okay," Xander replied with an understanding smile. "My name is actually 'Alexander', but my best friend…she liked 'Xander' better. And since she's been the boss of me since Kindergarten, it sticks to me."

"Oh, is she one of those girls you've been sitting there with?"

"Yeah, the redhead on the…," Xander turned around to look at his friends, but couldn't see them anymore. "Well, the redhead," he grinned.

"And the brunette? Is she your girlfriend?" she asked neutrally.

"Who, Faith?" he blurted and chuckled uncomfortably seconds after. "Uh, no…she's just…," _there were some non-girlfriend-ish activities…,_ "Faith. Me and my friend met her in school a few couple of months ago." He thought for a little bit, before he decided to tell her the following. "She…she was actually the one that made me come over here."

"Oh…," she replied, but not disappointed, as he had expected her to. "She is trying to hook us up?" Abby grinned.

"I guess," Xander shrugged. Mentally prepared himself for telling her that – despite finding her attractive – he was not really interested.

"Um…," she sat up straighter. What she was about to tell him now was probably her biggest secret, but to her Xander seemed trustworthy enough to actually confide this in him. "I have a girlfriend."

It took him a moment, but then Xander understood. "Oh, I see," he smiled genuinely. Somehow, this seemed to make it easier, at least in the I-don't-really-want-you-to-hook-me-up-with-anyone department. "That's okay. I'm…there's a girl in school that I like, sort of, so…"

"Oh, that's great!" Abby blurted elated. That means, she didn't have to put with awkward flirt attempts from the admittedly cute guy in front of her. "Sorry, I meant…"

"No, I get it," he stopped her with a smile before she could apologize any further. "So, where is she?"

"She's not here," Abby replied and her mood dampened a little. "I'm here with some friends. They don't know that I'm…," she sighed, "they keep telling me that I 'can't stay single forever', so they dragged me here to…you know, find someone. They're over there, by the way," she indicated with a nod of her head in the direction of the bar.

And, indeed, two girls were sitting at the bar and try to not beam at them, though failing miserably.

"It's hard to simply tell them about it, huh?" Xander commented, somewhat understanding her situation.

"Yeah. I mean, sometimes I think 'Okay, I'll tell them. It's no big thing, right?' But then…you never know how people will react to something like that, you know. I don't wanna lose them as friends."

"I get that. I'm not sure if my friends would accept the girl that I like, either. It's kinda…complicated…"

Abby smiled. She didn't even think about the oddness of this situation, about the fact that sometimes it was much easier to talk to a complete stranger about your problems than it was to tell your closest friends.

"Someday we'll pluck up the courage," Xander sounded convinced and raised his almost forgotten cup in a secret vow.

"Here's to it," she raised hers as well and they swigged their drinks in unison.

When they put their cups down again, Xander remembered something. "But, can I ask you…why were you looking at me? Or us?"

"Oh…," Abby had to think for a second, not exactly sure if she should tell him that she wasn't exactly looking at _him_, but more at the two girls. Something about them told her that they might have something in common. But since she didn't know if Xander was aware of that, she opted on a little white lie. "Well, you seemed to be a nice guy. You know, like someone I could imagine dating, if I didn't have someone at home waiting for me," she winked and cradled her cup in her hands. And what she just told him wasn't even a white lie. Having gotten to know him, was probably the best thing that happened to her tonight. Not only because it might keep her friends off her back for a while – they could witness that she had at least 'made contact' with the male sex.

"Oh, thanks," Xander replied and blushed a little. "So, I hope you're not a demon or some other otherworldly thing. Because most girls that notice me are…," he said before his brain could prevent him from it.

"Huh?" she looked at him with a weird expression.

_To be continued..._


	29. Unexpected

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the because of...what do you call this again...oh, right, "life"! ;)  
**Thanks to: **My lovely betas Wil-Lehane- and K  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

**A/N: **Don't know yet if Abby will be a one timer or not. Guess there's ways to bring her back at some point ;) I dimly remember that it was NCIS's Abby, who inspired this character to some extent (at least name-wise, huh? :P). After seeing Abby with her farting hyppopotamus Bert, it was, like "Oh, I so need an Abby somewhere..." Weird, why didn't I go, "Oh, I so need a Bert..."?

* * *

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE -- UNEXPECTED

A few minutes later, Willow and Faith were still sitting on their cozy, comfy, snuggly couch, snuggling in secret, unnoticed by any others that happen to pass by.

Willow hadn't been too pleased with Faith's whispered suggestion to sneak into the restroom and have it away with her or at least make out for a little bit. However, the slayer made sure that her little redhead got an idea about what she was missing here.

By pure accident, her fingers had weaseled their way under Willow's shirt and had begun a torturous ministration of the tender flesh. At first they had caressed the skin on the redhead's lower back, making the little hairs stand on edge, then had moved around to Willow's flank and had slowly driven the other girl crazy with their tickling movements and the slowly growing need that they caused the lower the digits glid.

Faith had noticed how the girl's breathing had become more shallow and the heartbeat had quickened when she had reached the waistband of her skirt and had eventually slid underneath. "Don't forget to breathe, honey," the slayer grinned, her statement uttered this quietly that it had only been noticeable for Willow. Her expression and demeanor had remained otherwise neutral, not giving away what she was doing to the poor girl next to her.

Though the hand had stayed in a relatively safe area, Willow had to work hard to not squirm about in her seat or even to ravish Faith there and then. Automatically she had put her hand over the one that was safely hidden underneath her clothes. She hadn't applied any pressure to it or tried to pull it away; she had simply kept it there and made only sure that it didn't creep into the more dangerous territory.

And Faith had complied, had kept her hand put on that soft spot at the juncture of Willow's pelvis and thigh. After a while she had moved the intruder a little and had let it rest on the redhead's belly, right beneath the belly button.

They had remained like that ever since, snuggled up a little bit, enjoying just being close. Willow's breathing and heartbeat have slowly gotten back to normal and right now no one would notice that anything had been…wrong…in the first place.

And the young werewolf that made his way over to them, didn't notice it either. Or if he did, he didn't let it show. The Dingoes had finished their gig about ten minutes ago and now Oz had decided to come over to them. Not for no reason, of course. One look at the young man's eyes and Faith knew what he had in mind. She nodded at his question and let him take Willow out of her arms and lead her on the dance floor.

Willow sighed inwardly, not out of protest of getting separated from the bad hand and its master…uh, mistress, but out of surprise about being asked to dance for a second time tonight. Everybody knew that she couldn't dance.

Out on the dance floor, Oz pulled her into his arms. "Sorry for pulling you away from her."

"Nah, it's okay," Willow replied, "I need some time to cool down, anyway," she blushed.

Oz had an idea what his ex-girlfriend was implying, but decided to not question her about it. Better for both of them.

For a few moments, they were just 'dancing'…which mainly means that Oz held Willow around the waist, that Willow had her arms drawn around his neck and that they swayed in sync with the music.

Willow finally spoke, "I loved you guys tonight."

"Thanks," the male redhead replied. "I'm glad you came."

"Please! I wouldn't miss a Dingoes-gig for anything!" _Hehe, liar, you almost forgot about it…_

Oz just smiled at her in return. _Still as taciturn__as ever_, Willow thought fondly and prepared herself for probably having to handle the most part of the conversation alone. "You know, thanks…for yesterday. Without you, we'd probably still be standing in the library and watching Buffy and Xander fighting over Faith's bags," she grinned, thinking back at this scurrile event.

"No problem," the young man replied. "Just hope I made the _right_ choice…" he said with half-raised eyebrows and an almost-smirk on his lips.

"Well…," Willow started and averted her eyes with a bashful smile.

"So, everything's okay? You two having a good time?"

The wicca giggled nervously, "Are you sure that you wanna hear about all this?"

"Well, you don't have to give me the details," Oz replied. "Just tell me you're happy."

"Very," she answered his question positively and seemed to be lost in her thoughts again.

Oz didn't seem to mind. Though it was still weird how quickly everything had changed between them, he was always happy to see Willow happy, no matter what, how and why. But… "You know, I actually thought that you were dating Buffy," he decided that it wouldn't hurt to tell her this now.

"Huh? What?" Willow snapped out of it, "Why?"

"Long story…"

* * *

Faith watched them from afar and smiled subconsciously when she saw Willow laughing at something that Oz told her. Strangely enough, she didn't mind people stealing her girlfriend away. At least as long as it was only for dancing and she got her back without a scratch.A twinge of sadness about not being able to dance with her in public was there, but she also knew that they would have their own private dance soon.

Xander came back to the couch and saw Faith sitting there, lost in thought, eyes directed on the dance floor, a smile on her lips. "You look happy…" he commented and sat down next to her.

"Yeah?" she replied calmly, though his sudden reappearance had startled her a little.

From his current position, Xander could see where Faith's eyes had been focused on – and still were, in fact. "Think they'll get back together?" he asked her as he saw the twosome in question dancing close together and talking about something apparently very funny, since he could make out a giant grin on the redhead's face. Their break-up had happened so quickly and without big ballyhoo that it almost seemed surreal. Just like a bad dream.

"Doubt it," came the quick answer and Xander looked at his companion surprised.

"Why's that? Do you know more than I do?" he scrunched his eyebrows.

"Oh…," she turned around and looked at him for the first time. She hadn't intended to utter the 'doubt it' out loud and she knew how weird it must have sounded. "No, not really," she lied, "I just have a feeling, is all. I mean, they wouldn't have split up if there wasn't anything serious wrong between them, right?" she commented and hoped that she sounded convincing enough.

"Well, I don't know…at least they still seem to be getting along."

"Yeah…," _luckily_. "Break-up doesn't mean that you can't stay friends."

Xander pondered his dating history and wasn't sure whether to agree or to disagree with Faith on said subject. He and Cordelia were still sort of… _me and Will, on the other hand…but that doesn't qualify as dating, neither does the incident with a certain brunette…_ "If you say so," he replied finally.

"Anyway, speaking of relationships and stuff," she started, intending to change the subject, or at least steer it into a different direction, "how did it go with the cutie? I didn't think you'd be back by now."

"Oh, it was cool, we definitely connected in some way…," he replied. But before Faith could utter some sort of congratulation and pat herself on the shoulder, celebrating a successful matchmaking, Xander continued, "…but…I guess, I'm not really her type. Besides, she's all coupled up," he grinned, remembering their conversation.

He still considered it funny that the girl Faith had picked for him was in a similar situation than he was, though her situation was probably more complicated than his. He was only interested in an over 1000-year old now-ex-demon that had caused some serious problems for his best friend since kindergarten…Abby, on the other hand, was in love with another girl, which even in this oh-so-modern and open-minded world was still a weird concept for many people. He had thought about this after Larry had come out to him last year. About how difficult it must be if your relationship or sexual orientation doesn't resemble the standards that society has put up.

He was not sure what he would do, if he were in that situation. Sure, it was always easy to give someone the advice 'just tell them' – be it friends or family – 'I'm sure they'll understand'. But if you were in that situation yourself, you'd probably realize, that it's really 'easier said than done'.

"Huh…," Faith murmured as a reply to his answer and brought him out of his thoughts, "damn, I was so sure…," she pouted a little and looked around. "Oh, well, maybe next…," as her eyes fell on Percy, she remembered that there was one thing, she still had to do. Sighing, she emptied her cup, put it down on the table and grabbed Xander's arm. "Come on, I promised Percy I'd play billiard with him. And since _you_ are not terribly busy right now, you're gonna be my boyfriend," she commanded and pulled him off the couch.

"Wait…Percy? Billiard? Boyfriend?" he asked, not quite comprehending yet.

"Well, actually he wanted to dance with me. And/or buy me a drink...," she explained. "Now I need to find a way to get me out of this. So, you're gonna play my boyfriend – which, ergo, makes me unavailable for him and hopefully puts an end to his flirt attempts. Got it?"

He grinned and singsang, "Faithie's got an admirer."

"Shut it," she replied annoyed as she dragged him along.

"That means we have to act all snuggly, right?"

* * *

Willow, still in Oz's arms, noticed that an Angel-less Buffy walked up behind the young man and tapped him on the shoulder – just when the third song ended.

"Hi. May I?" the little blonde asked with a nod in Willow's direction.

"Oh, sure," he replied and 'uncoupled' from his ex-girlfriend. He gave her a little peck on the cheek, said goodbye to the friends and went backstage.

"Don't tell me you wanna dance too…," Willow whined as Buffy took her hand.

"O contraire, mon…mon…," she reached for the word that she knew was somewhere in the back of her mind. Probably buried under tons of other more or less useless knowledge.

"…'Sastre'…?" Willow grinned and helped her best friend out. It had almost been one year since they had had their last French lesson in school, so naturally the slayer didn't remember all aspects of the language, which she didn't like very much from the first lesson on.

"I knew that!" Buffy nodded in vigorous falsification of any assumptions about her ignorance of the French language. "But, no, I don't wanna dance. We can do the stand-awkwardly-about-on-the-dance-floor thing you're so good at, instead," she teased her best friend.

"Hey!" Willow replied mock-offended.

"No, actually I wanted to show you that," she pointed over towards one of the two billiard tables. And, yeah, Faith and Xander had joined Percy by now and Faith's plan of using Xander as faux-boyfriend seemed to work out. With Xander standing basically less than two feet away from her and acting jealously-protective, Percy didn't have much opportunity to come on to the slayer. You could see that he was a little disappointed…and probably wondered how in the world Xander, according to Cordelia 'the voice of the common wuss', actually managed to hook up with hot chicks like Cordy and Faith. He had to come to terms with just ogling the brunette her from afar.

"What's up with…I mean, what's…Faith and Xander…?" Buffy looked surprised, when she witnessed an extra girlfriend-ish Faith-moment, in which the brunette actually allowed Xander to put his arm around her.

"Now, that's weird…," Willow commented as her mind was trying to come up with a logical explanation for this sight.

"At least that would explain her behavior tonight," Buffy shrugged.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, all the other times that we've been here…she was all flirty. Plus she danced for the majority of the nights – and that never alone, there were always two, three dozen guys that were trying to get their hands on her. But tonight…I mean, if there's really something between them, then it might be real serious..."

"Because it changed her this much?" Willow smiled softly, unnoticed by Buffy, whose eyes were still on the twosome of cuteness. She knew what this meant for _her_ and Faith…at least she hoped so – there had to be an explanation for why she was suddenly snuggling with Xander, and Willow was sure that she would find it.

* * *

Meanwhile, in City Hall, Allan Finch locked his office and got ready to go home. Today had been pretty uneventful, so he used his time to gather some more information about the mayor's plans and doings. It was nothing really important, but, as they say, every little helps.

When he got home, he would give Rupert Giles a call to arrange a meeting. Contacting him from his office phone would be too risky; the mayor might be onto him and might have arranged the monitoring of his phone calls.

He walked down on of the long corridors. When he rounded a corner, he got startled by Mr. Trick, who stalled him.

He had thought that he was the last one here tonight. Finding the vampire here was definitely a surprise. Unwelcome and unsettling.

"Now, now, Mr. Finch, why are we this anxious? Is something wrong?" the vampire snarled as he stepped closer to the deputy mayor.

"M-Mr. Trick…I…," he stammered.

"Let's drop the chit-chat," Trick cut him off. "And there is no need to make up any stories. The honorable mayor has come to notice that you seem to have gone around behind his back.

Provided the slayers and their pals with valuable information about his upcoming Ascension."

"I-I don't know w-what you're talking about," he lied miserably and knew that the vampire was not buying it.

"You very well know it, I can smell the fear inside you," he progressed and made Finch step some involuntary steps back. "Exciting".

"I…I can explain everything," Finch stuttered and got even more nervous, when he felt the cold wall pressing into his back. With the vampire looming over him, here was no possible escape. "M-My intentions and…"

"We can imagine what your intentions were," Trick replied and the yellow in his eyes gleaming dangerously. He opened the door that was about half a meter away from them and grabbed Finch by the shoulder.

"N-no, wait, please…," Finch knew that his number was up. "My family is waiting for me."

"That's really none of my business," the vampire replied as he shoved the man into the dark room, followed him inside and closed the door behind them.

One second later, the roaring of a vampire and muffled human screams could be heard in the otherwise quiet City Hall.

_To be continued..._

* * *

**A/N: And with this chapter we took the 100,000 words hurdle :P Thanks for reading and reviewing, everyone :)  
**


	30. I Hope You Dance

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the because of...what do you call this again...oh, right, "life"! ;)  
**Thanks to: **My lovely betas Wil-Lehane- and K  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

* * *

CHAPTER THIRTY -- I HOPE YOU DANCE 

The gang was on its way home. A still Angel-less Buffy (the vampire had already gone home after their last dance), a still single Xander and the still not-openly-couply Willow and Faith. However, the dark slayer had made a point of, gentle(wo)man-like, helping the little redhead into _her _leather jacket – yet again – when she had noticed that the other girl was cold.

And of course, Buffy, as curious as ever, pestered Faith and Xander with questions about their affectionate behavior during the billiard game, which Faith had won, by the way. The brunettes laughed and high-fived one another for a maneuver that was apparently perfect enough to even fool the blonde slayer.

Faith explained how Percy was obviously trying to hit on her and how she was looking for a way out of this predicament. Showing him that she wasn't interested without giving him the rude brush-off she used to be so good at – she seemed to really have changed during the last couple of weeks.

Buffy, a sucker for all things relationshippy, grunted a disappointed "Oh…," when it became clear that Faith and Xander hadn't coupled up. Willow, on the other hand, sighed a sigh of relief – there was the logical explanation that she had hoped for. Not that she had thought that her girlfriend would really two-time or betray her, but a little shimmer of doubt had been there – and Willow felt terrible for thinking something like that in the first place.

At the corner of 3rd and Hudson, they broke up their foursomeness – Buffy and Xander heading into one direction, Willow and Faith into the other.

"See, you were right about Percy," Faith confirmed Willow's assumptions about the young man's crush on her and put her arm around the redhead's shoulders affectionately.

"Yeah, I guess," Willow replied, still dealing with the unnerving Faith-Xander sight in front of her inner eye, and held on to Faith's wrist. "It was a little scary, you know, seeing you and Xander all snugly…"

"Oh…," Faith cringed inwardly, "sorry. Actually I wanted to tell you about this before I went over to Percy, but," she smirked, "I guess I had my hands full with other things, huh?"

Willow returned the smirk and Faith gave her a peck on the temple. The redhead sighed contently and held on tighter to the arm around her shoulder.

"So...your place or mine?" the slayer asked and brought a giant smile to her girlfriend's face, accentuating each and every single freckle. Willow certainly looked as happy as Faith felt about this new step in their relationship. "Did I already tell you that you look beautiful?" Even without a smile on her face, or the clothes that she was wearing tonight. _In the nuddy and pouty is also fine…_

"Only about five times today," Willow giggled as they turned left and walked towards the porch in front of the Rosenberg home.

"Only five times?" Faith exclaimed, "I'm shocked! We have to do something about that…"

"I won't stop you," the redhead beamed. They came to a stop in front of the door. "Well, here we are, _our_ place," she stressed that one word specifically.

"Yeah…," Faith pondered and beheld her first real home since she had fled from her dead watcher's house.

"You wanna unlock the door?"

"What? Who? Me?" Faith's head whipped around. _Did I miss anything? I don't have a…_ "…key…?" she pressed forth the last fragment of her intended statement and watched as Willow pulled out a key ring with two similar keys on it out of the hidden pocket of her skirt.

Willow pried one of the keys from the ring. "This is the last time that you can say that," she handed it over to Faith with a ceremonial gesture; this was an important step, Faith now having her own key, made her an official member of the Rosenberg household.

But instead of going to work right then and open the door, Faith reached into her top and… pulled her little stake-on-a-key-ring out between her puppies. When she saw Willow's surprised-delighted look, she uttered, "What? You didn't think that I'd just let _this _lie around somewhere, did you?" She worked the key on the key ring with one swift motion. "Besides…my bra is the safest place I know…"

"Hm…but only as long as I don't get my hands on it," Willow snickered as Faith opened the door and let them both in.

* * *

A few minutes later, Willow stepped out of the bathroom and walked into her bedroom where she expected to find Faith; she knew where this night would end, or at least she hoped to know so. _Young and healthy and newly in love – what do you expect?! Plus she got me all worked up back at the Bronze...and the talk about the bra…but I guess that was just the icing on the cake…_She grinned to herself but faltered when she found her room empty.

"Faith?" she queried and checked Faith's neighboring room, which was momentarily unoccupied as well. But then she noticed the soft red illumination that was coming from the living room.

She approached it slowly and what she saw took her breath away. Faith had dimmed the lights and lighted a few candles, which amplified the effect that the red of the wallpaper had on the room already. The curtains were drawn.

Willow had known that the slayer was planning something when she had sent her off to the bathroom – Faith obviously needed some time to prepare things.

And now the brunette was standing in the middle of the room, nothing much had changed about her since Willow had seen her last, she was still in her dressed-to-kill outfit, but the demeanor was different – Faith was wearing that soft, innocent smile that was reserved for Willow alone.

The slayer held out her hands and motioned for Willow to come closer. The redhead complied and walked into Faith's waiting arms. And when she finally reached her goal and felt Faith's arms embrace her possessively, she noticed another difference about the slayer's appearance: the younger girl had gotten rid of her heavy make-up, maybe because she knew that her girlfriend preferred her without it, preferred to see the girl underneath the hard shell. The girl that was also shorter than herself right now, without her heavy boots.

Faith smiled when she saw her girlfriend study her features intensely, following the outlines of her eyebrows, nose, mouth with the fingers of her right hand while the other reached around her neck, combed through the soft hair.

"What are you doing?" Willow finally indicated the appearance of the room as her right hand met its sibling behind Faith's neck.

"Well, I-I...," Faith stammered, not really able to comprehend into what a sap a couple of cuddlesome moments with Willow could turn her, "I just wanted to dance with you since we entered the Bronze tonight," she smiled, but not without a hint of sadness that they actually couldn't do just that in public.

"Me too," Willow replied softly. _Huh? I just voluntarily agreed to dancing...? Not for the first time tonight._

Faith briefly raised her eyebrows in surprise but then said, "Just figured that we could have our own private dance here..."

"Oh?" Willow asked stupidly, since she was hearing no music yet.

But then Faith reached behind her back and pulled the remote control out of the waistband of her leather pants. Willow smirked; the slayer seemed to feel completely at home already.

"You know, I loved this song when I was little," Faith informed her.

"What song?!" Willow replied too loud and quickly, eager to know really everything about her girlfriend; in the last few days she had realized that she knew almost nothing about her, and she was determined to change that.

"Hold your horses there, Sparky, I wasn't finished yet," Faith grinned. She had just used the redhead's nickname for herself on her.

"Okay...," Willow replied with a pout and looked down briefly. She directed her eyes towards her girlfriend again when she felt the gentle caress on her lower back and noticed Faith staring down at the remote.

"Good thing I have a CD of it...," the brunette mumbled, probably still trying to figure out how this thing works. "You probably know it. Some might consider this an oldie...but I guess then they were born in the 90s...," she continued deliberately slow, trying to play for time; Willow had returned from the bathroom too quickly, she hadn't had time to figure out the proper operating mode of the gadget. _Is it me or do these things keep getting more complicated with every year? I just need the button that says..._

Willow's anticipations grew, and she would love to wrestle the remote away from Faith and press the stupid 'Play' button herself. But she knew that Faith wouldn't let that happen; as a matter of fact, she still hated to give up control, even if it was the technical-mechanical kind.

"...And maybe it's a little cheesy, too. But...I don't know...," Faith raised her eyebrows in surprise, finally she had found the button she was looking for, "when I saw you at the Bronze tonight..." she looked up at Willow, "I simply couldn't help but think about this song..."

_Huh...wonder what that could be...,_Willow reviewed the past hours at the Bronze.

Faith pointed the remote at the hi fi – unit and pressed a series of buttons, and seconds later the soft intro of the song started. She threw remote to land safely on the nearby armchair

before she pulled Willow closer to her and locked her fingers behind the redhead's back.

Willow didn't recognize the song at first, but as soon as the first lyrics wafted across the living room, she didn't know how she should react to it.

_I've never seen you looking so lovely as you did tonight  
I've never seen you shine so bright _

Because, yeah, she knew the song and, yeah, it was a little cheesy, but at the same time utterly beautiful and it overwhelmed her that Faith connected _her_ to this song.

_I've never seen so many men ask you if you wanted to dance  
They're looking for a little romance, given half a chance_

Faith saw one particular of tonight's scenes unfold in front of her inner eye – Willow dancing in the arms of her ex-boyfriend, smiling, happy. And seeing that had been okay for the brunette. She knew that Willow would never be just hers alone. She'll always be Oz's too, and Xander's, and Buffy's, and Giles', and even Joyce's – even if their feelings for her are probably different from her and Oz's. It was simply Willow's being that conquers everyone's heart hand over fist, one way or the other; and once she was in there, you'd never get her out again. Not that anyone really tried to her out of their hearts before. So Faith felt okay with sharing her honey with the others...as long as the really, really special parts of Willow remained reserved for her. Because even if she was generous, a little bit of jealousy belonged to a good relationship.

Willow's thoughts were on an entirely different subject – Faith's song choice, still. She was surprised that little Faith had listened to something like this and liked it. _When this song came out, Faith must have been..._Willow faltered when she realized yet again, how little she actually knew about her counterpart. No last name, no birthday...not even a birth year..._well, she's younger than Buffy, but how much...? _Willow would have loved to be able to smack herself right about now for not asking the brunette some of those most essential relationshippy questions yet. But since smacking herself would be a little weird in this situation, her body decided on some small tears that spill over her eyelids in short intervals.

"It's beautiful," her voice sounded slightly thicker as she uttered those words, her sight was momentarily blurred and the muscles of her face were cooperating only minimally, caught between a smile and a pained grimace.

Faith raised one hand to wipe the tears from her lover's cheeks. She noticed Willow's odd expression, of course, and, although not knowing what had caused it, she decided on not really liking it. _Just one way to get rid of that... _"Well, that guy obviously thought of _you_ when he wrote it...," she said and prodded Willow's nose lightly. This earned her the desired reaction – a soft Willow smile, and she grinned happily; oh, yeah, her heart was so totally in Willow's hands.

Willow decided to ignore those thoughts for now. _Well, she doesn't know my essentials either, so there! _She scolded herself resolutely. _We'll have enough time for that sometime later._

Instead she nuzzled her cheek against Faith's and let herself be guided by the brunette. She still couldn't dance, and probably not even Faith was ever going to change that, but the other girl didn't seem to mind. After all, this wasn't about dancing, really; just about being close.

_  
The lady in red is dancing with me cheek to cheek  
There's nobody here, it's just you and me, It's where I wanna be  
_

And after a few moments spent in cuddly silence, Willow's hands started to develop a mind of their own. Well, not really of their own, since Willow was just planning to follow through with her original plan, which was...her digits did the thinking as they crept over the slayer's back, reached the hem of her white tank top and disappeared under it. _Gotten rid of the make-up already, now we're gonna get rid of the clothes too... _she smirked as she heard the surprised "Red!" yelped into her ear. She lifted her head with a grin and looked into her girlfriend's eyes challengingly.

_And whe__n you turned to me and smiled, it took my breath away_

Faith didn't even so much as try to stop the Willow-lips that were capturing hers possessively; for one, the expression of want on the freckled face had been so amazing that it had slowed her brain down momentarily, and for another, why would she want to do that? Willow-dancing, Willow-kissage, Willow-_...sex_...came the conclusion as the redhead's hands worked eagerly on pulling her top off – all equally as satisfying for her... though sex still remained a special kind of satisfaction for her; she hadn't changed _that_ much.

And therefore Willow's questing tongue that slipped into her mouth so effortlessly was welcome. She had actually meant this to go slow tonight, some nice dancing, some cuddling, falling asleep in each other's arms... not necessarily more than just sleeping though. But..._well, if baby wants to play...guess I won't stop her,_ Faith grinned into Willow's mouth as this one was apparently caught in a struggle of getting that shirt off of Faith and maneuvering her girlfriend towards the couch. _Probably my fault anyway. I mean, I got her all hot and bothered tonight..._

Willow broke the kiss briefly to figure out her next move, looked down at her hands buried under Faith's shirt; one at the back, intending to pull the shirt up and over the brunette's head, the other resting on Faith's tummy, trying to get her to move backwards. _Shirt, then couch...or first couch and then shirt...??_

Faith played dumb, deliberately kept her hands on Willow's waist, making it hard for the redhead to follow through with that one part of her plan. She looked up into the green eyes and wriggled her eyebrows, "Planning something, honey?"

Willow very well noticed Faith's actions. "You're not making this easy, you know...," she tried to pout, but failed miserably, as she broke into a giant grin. By now the shirt was pulled up to just under Faith's armpits, with absolutely no chance of moving it higher, unless Faith decided to cooperate. Which she didn't; the brunette was simply standing there, grinning with the tongue sticking out between her teeth, forcing Willow to do something else. _Well, okay, we'll do it the other way. See how you like it, slayer!_

She decided on the most effective weapon when it came to defeating Faith – tickling. She touched the slayer's sides, and a few movements of her fingers later, the brunette doubled over with laughter and automatically stepped a few steps back, only stopping when she bumped against the couch. One more nudge and she was sitting on the piece of furniture. She looked up just to see Willow's hands come to rest on her shoulders, moving her into a lying position. Then the redhead lay on her and continued where she had left off. Kissing and working on..._the shirt, dammit..._

Faith clutched Willow's waist tightly, she wanted to see how long she could play this game, before Willow would get grumpy; or how long it would take till she'd get bored with it herself. Right now she enjoyed it, and also Willow's caressings that were now refocused on her stomach, her hands possibly heading towards her leather pants. _Hey, how come I never get to play seductress anymore...? This is unfair... nuh-uh, we'll play this game my way, _she smirked and in her turn started to work on Willow's blouse.

A heated kiss developed between them and Willow momentarily forgot about her mission as Faith's tongue delved into her mouth greedily. _God, the things that thing did last night..._she shuddered in arousal at that thought_, oh, we so have to do that again! _came the conclusion as she pressed herself closer against her lover's body.

But too early for her taste, the song came to an end, and she broke the kiss, looked down at the beautiful brunette with scrunched eyebrows. She thought briefly, before she made a move to get up and press 'replay' on the hi-fi-system. But Faith didn't let her, kept the firm hold on her body. Willow was about to protest but then she heard the slow melody kick in again and sank back down on her slayer. _All right...!_

_I've never seen you looking so lovely as you did tonight  
I've never seen you shine so bright_

Faith kissed her much softer than just seconds ago and after a while turned them around, covering Willow protectively with her own body. She released her lips and smiled at her girlfriend tenderly."All things considered."

"I see," Willow replied, "...or hear...rather...," she corrected herself.

"Dork," Faith laughed and attached herself to the soft lips again. _My dork!_ Subconsciously her left hand went to work on the buttons of Willow's blouse, unbuttoning the top one, and the second, and the third one, before she kissed her way down Willow's jaw line, her throat and finally reached the juncture of the redhead's collar bones. She took her times to trace the area with her fingers, the little freckle-built galaxy that the sun had brought forth over the years, the Willow-galaxy with all its little star constellations that still needed to be named properly.

The little beaver (no pun intended), as opposed to the little bear (no pun intended either!), the stake (um…weird), the vampire rabbit with its enormous fangs/teeth, the little butterfly, which might actually turn out to be a dragonfly, the glasses...

Faith was sure that she could come up with more eventually, but now was not the time for thinking. Now was the time for more kissage of the freckled chest. And she did this extensively, slowly glid lower as she got more engrossed in her new task.

Willow noticed this and, despite her dwindling brain function, her arousal started blocking her mind, still had the mental presence to yank on Faith's shirt one more time. Faith's hands were positioned in a convenient angle to her body right now, making it far easier to get rid of the obstinate garment.

Faith felt how the top was pulled up and over her head, had to break her mouth's exploration of Willow's chest, because suddenly...she tasted the cottony material of her shirt instead of the redhead's smooth skin. She sat up and looked down at herself and then at Willow's mischievous smirk. "Okay, busted, I lose," she pouted and outstretched her arms to give her girlfriend the opportunity to finish the job. Inwardly her body caroled nonetheless, since this was not a real loss, there would a reward for them both later...maybe even more than one; no, hopefully more than one.

Willow reached up and practically ripped the garment off of Faith's body. _Mine! _she licked her lips in anticipation as her eyes raked over the brunette's barely covered torso. _Since when am I this predatory...? _she asked herself as her eyes meet the slayer's, which eradiated a lust that most likely resembled her own.

But it was not simple lust that connected them, it was...the concept Faith had been afraid of for so long, had shied away from with so much effort; the concept that Willow was slowly making her understand.

_I have never had such a feeling  
Such a feeling of complete and utter love, as I do tonight  
_

Faith sank back into Willow's open arms, and let Willow's love surround and protect her. _Protect? Oh, well...might as well admit it_. Yep, even supposedly strong and fearless demon fighters need some cuddly moments at times; she had begun to understand that as well. Too much alone time wasn't good, especially in the slaying biz. A lonely slayer could become dangerous, possibly a threat to humanity; it scared her too much to follow through with her thought. _No thinking, concentrate on her..._

Willow groaned as Faith suddenly intensified her ministrations, fondled her puppies possessively and moved to suck her earlobe into her mouth. "Oh, God..."

"Hm, you can call me 'Faith'," the brunette snickered into her ear and Willow wondered, which of them actually _was _the dork here.

Another long night-day of sex (also known as Faith's very special dance) followed and this time no one would interrupt their post-whoo-hoo-snuggling session…hopefully. Since neither Willow nor Faith believed in coincidences, and three of four post-sex-sessions would be an extreme coincidence, this would have begged some interesting questions about the others' possible knowledge of their relationship. But until this moment, Faith was certain that only three people knew about it, and that the third party wouldn't tell the others about it.

_  
I never will forget, the way you look tonight  
My lady in red (I love you.)_

_To be continued..._

* * *

**A/N: **That was cheesy, huh? :P "Lady in Red" belongs to... that short guy... wait, what's his name... mom, help! Ah, Chris de Burgh ;)


	31. Agreements

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the because of...what do you call this again...oh, right, "life"! ;)  
**Thanks to: **My lovely betas Wil-Lehane- and K  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

* * *

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE -- AGREEMENTS

It was dark around her, though not disturbingly so. The warmth that surrounded her, however, had a faintly unpleasant feel to it – hot, damp and sticky. She noticed a weight on top of her, or maybe she was lying on her side and it was just something that was pressing into her front – it didn't really matter. She felt some silkily-soft, in some spots slightly itchy, material covering her face partly.

She didn't consider all these sensations irritating enough to do something about them. One thing that alarmed her, though, was the dull, even sound that invaded her ears. Something that in one second sounded like grunting, in the next like wheezing, here and there with some sighing in the mix. Now if she only knew what _that_ was…maybe some kind of weird wind.

The weight on top/next to her that suddenly moved, shifted its position, seemed to validate this hypothesis. It must have been moved by the wind – the wind that now sounded like a low hum and appeared to be further away. But then it was gone, as abrupt as it had appeared. All she sensed now was…

Silence. Darkness. Warmth. Tickling silkiness.

A stinging pain on her cheekbone.

Her eyes snapped open and all of the sudden she was wide awake. She needed a few seconds to find her bearings, but then it all made sense.

They were lying on the couch. Willow, who was half on top of her and half on her right side, turned out to the weight that she had detected earlier on. Somehow the redhead's right calf had found its way under Faith's left one and was now practically lodged between it and the couch – she couldn't possibly get up without the slayer's assistance, and neither could the brunette herself.

The warmth that she had felt while asleep, and still felt right now, was provided by the blanket that Willow had drawn around them tightly.

The sounds were gone, but she had a feeling that the _distant hum_ had come from Willow, the other stuff…Faith figured that she had probably heard herself snoring - it wouldn't be the first time that something like this had happened to her.

Faith brushed the silky yet slightly annoying material out of her eyes and could now identify it as Willow's beautiful red hair. She lifted the pink dingus that still covered her left eye partly, the dingus that had caused her pain…and guess what – it was simply Willow's limp right hand; her girlfriend must have hit her cheek accidentally when she had shifted her sleeping position.

She kissed the little offender and put it back down on her cheek. Then she felt around with her right hand and found that this one was safely drawn around the redhead's shoulders. _No chance of her crashing to the floor…_

She turned her head to look at her girlfriend and found her still asleep – it seemed like that, at least. Willow's face was turned towards her, she seemed to be dreaming, though she was not dream-talking, which meant that she wasn't in the waking-up stage. That much Faith had learned about Willow already.

_Unless she's already awake, _Faith smirked mischievously.

She moved her left hand to caress the freckled nose, cheeks and eyelids, but found herself not being able to touch the soft skin, since her arm was stuck between her body and the couch. She tried to move her torso a bit to get closer to Willow; a sharp pain in her neck area and back kept her from her goal, however. It took her only two seconds to seek out the culprit. _Great. Stupid couch. Those things – not recommendable for sleeping. Even my motel bed was more comfortable. _

But before she could come up with any other plan to get closer to the redhead, this one moved again and drew her arm around the slayer's neck, snuggling even closer herself. Faith was still not sure, if the redhead – in her asleep state – just happened to decide to move just then, or if an already awake Willow was just fooling her, pretending to be sleeping. _Only one way to find out._

Now that they were practically nose to nose, Faith had at least the opportunity to nudge and nuzzle the hell out of Willow. And she did.

First she let her right arm slide just a little higher, until she could reach the red hair with her hand. Since Willow was practically clinging to her, she didn't have to wrap her arm around her anymore, afraid that the redhead might fall off the couch.

She combed through the hair for a while, even tickled Willow's neck and the back of her head and waited for a reaction. Which didn't come. And thus she edged closer, prodded Willow's nose with hers, circled it, gave her an Eskimo kiss. No reaction. Faith pouted. She kissed her on the lips lightly. Repeatedly. Still no reaction. If Willow was really awake already, she showed incredible self-control; but even if she had still been sleeping, Faith's ministrations should have woken her up by now.

Faith decided it was time to whip out the most ultimate weapon, the thing that she knew would wake up Willow. She moved her face as close to her girlfriend's as possible, put her mouth over the redhead's cheek and blew out, letting the trembling movement of her lips tickle the other girl's skin.

When she heard the other girl exhaling in short intervals, indicating almost soundless giggling, she knew that she had reached her goal. She leant back, just in time to see the smirk on Willow's lips.

The redhead, however, didn't plan on opening her eyes any time soon.

"You still asleep?" Faith asked after a while, watching the obviously awake Willow closely.

"Mm-hm," came the redhead's mumbled reply as she snuggled closer, also wiping her cheek on her slayers shoulders while doing so.

"Okay," Faith returned and decided to let her girlfriend cuddle a little while longer. This wasn't all bad; except for the fact that the uncomfortableness of the couch was really starting to bother her, the slayer enjoyed this moment. This doing nothing else but snuggling. She remembered last night. There hadn't been as much down-and-dirty moments as in the previous night, which was okay. There had been some at first, Willow couldn't wait to get Faith naked yet again, and Faith felt the same about Willow; the snuggly moments, however, had taken priority.

Luckily one of them had turned the music off at some point, because even a beautiful song can get annoying after a while; and they didn't want that.

After deciding that she was supremely happy, in more than one way, Willow had pulled a blanket over them both and had fallen asleep in Faith's arms. The slayer had been equally as happy, though she could have gone on a good long while longer. She simply had to content herself with cuddling until sleep overcame her as well.

Now, happy Faith watched as the little one finally had 'slept' enough and opened her beautiful brown-green eyes.

"Morning, sleepyhead," the slayer grinned.

"Morning," Willow replied and grinned herself.

"Sleep well?"

The redhead seemed to seriously think about, until Faith gave her a stern look; she drew the brunette closer to her and kissed her. "Yes, very."

"Good to hear," Faith smirked. Willow let her hand wander up and down Faith's arm, the one that still couldn't quite reach her. "You know...you hit me," the brunette pouted after a while.

"What?" the redhead exclaimed shocked. "I didn't...," she was about to defend herself, saying that she would never do any such thing, but the look on Faith's despite-all-this-still-amused face told her that the slayer was probably telling the truth, "when?"

"A couple of minutes ago, I guess you were still asleep. Well, I was too, at that point...but then you moved and the next thing I know, something slapped me," she deliberately glanced down at the hand that was still resting on her arm.

"Where...?" Willow asked with a pained look.

"Left cheek."

In less than a second, the culprit was back on Faith's cheek, this time in a pacifying movement. "_It's_ sorry. See?" Willow's hand lingered on her cheek for a long time.

"And it's forgiven," Faith smiled softly and kissed her girlfriend again. "So...what do you wanna do today? Think the others will show up again?"

"Nah, I think we're good," Willow replied to Faith's second question. "We could just hang out, you know. Watch TV, surf the net, talk...snuggle...have sex?" she grinned.

"You can't get enough, huh?" Faith chuckled and buried her not-so-tied-up hand in Willow's hair again.

"Surprised?" Willow gave her a challenging look.

"Nope. I guess you learned that from the best," the slayer showed a self-loving smirk.

"Yeah, yeah," Willow rolled her eyes.

"But before we do that...can we get up, please?" Faith asked and allowed a little bit of pain to show on her face.

"Oh, you hungry?" Willow misinterpreted Faith's expression.

"No...Well, okay, maybe that too, but...actually, a couch isn't really the most comfortable thing to spend your nights on. Why do you think I didn't move in with Giles?" she joked.

"Not because of me?" Willow pouted as Faith assisted her in freeing her leg.

"Course not…," the brunette replied, watching as the witch got off her. But as she saw her standing there, with the blanket in her hand, covering absolutely nothing of her gorgeous body..., "...on second thought..."

Willow laughed and took hold of the arm that Faith held out to her.

"I swear, next time we're gonna have to…do…that…somewhere else," the slayer grumbled as she got up from the couch slowly.

"Hey," Willow smirked, "but at least we didn't break it."

* * *

Everything was quiet in the unlit room. The roller blinds were closed tightly. A figure on the floor, which turned out to be Allan Finch, started to move slowly. He looked about himself disoriented, his face… as normal as always.

He felt his neck, searching for a wound. The wound was there, so he hadn't imagined last night's happenings. Although he had already been sure of that when he had woken up on a floor in a room in what he just knew was City Hall.

To say he panicked a little would be an understatement. He _had _been bit… Did that also mean …Trick had turned him into a vampire?

He felt his teeth and forehead to get a clue. But there was nothing there – which didn't necessarily tell him about his state.

Before he could look into it more, could maybe try to vamp out, the door opened and one of the Mayor's vampire employees checked on him. "Good morning, Allan," he greeted in an overly cheery and friendly voice.

* * *

After their shared shower, during which Willow also managed to get some of the kinks out of the slayer's neck and back, they went into the kitchen to make some breakfast. Nothing fancy, just a little bit of toast with peanut butter and/or jelly, some waffles that Willow had dug out from the depths of the cupboard, cereal and cocoa.

Willow was already sitting on the god-awful, really-uncomfortable-for-sleeping-purposes living room couch, when Faith entered the room, holding a box of cereal and a milk carton in her hands.

Both of them hadn't bothered to put on more than just T-shirts and panties; probably wouldn't stay on for long, anyway.

"Say, did you ever look at those cereal things closely?" Faith asked as she sat down next to Willow, set down the milk carton on the couch table and buried her legs under the blanket that the redhead had already crawled underneath.

"Except for checking what flavor they are, no. Why?" Willow inquired, just as Faith turned the carton around and showed her the backside.

"There. Instruction manual."

"With piccies and everything," Will raised her eyebrows. "They seem to have those for everything now, huh? I mean, I'm used to those weird warning notices…"

"Which ones?"

"You know, 'Warning: container will be hot after heating' or 'Do not use while sleeping'… or 'Caution: contains nuts' – on a packet of peanuts, of course."

Faith chuckled, "Right, I almost forgot about those. So, you want any?" she pointed toward the cereal.

"Hm, maybe later," Willow replied.

"Okay," Faith shrugged, "but I'm gonna try this now. Let's see if I can do it right," she started as she positioned one bowl in front of her. Then she pulled the plastic bag, containing the cereal, out of the box and handed the box over to Willow. "Here, you're gonna tell me what I gotta do."

The redhead complied with a grin. "Alright. First, 'Do not fill the milk into the cereal container'."

"Oh, damn, I was just about to do that," Faith rolled her eyes dramatically.

"Second, 'Pour the desired amount of cereal into a bowl'," Willow read and Faith did as told. "Third, 'Add an optional amount of milk or yoghurt'."

"That's it?" the slayer grinned.

"Yeah, that's all there is."

"Good," Faith took a spoon and stirred the mixture a little before filling some of it on the spoon and moving closer to Willow. "First open mouth, then dump the goodies," Faith continued the game, feeding her girlfriend at the same time, "remove the spoon, close mouth and chew."

Willow abided all these instructions dutifully.

"How is it? Did I do it right?" Just when the redhead was about to reply, with her mouth still full, Faith raised an admonishing finger. "Swallow."

Willow had to work hard to not to choke on the cereal, she had to laugh so hard. Finally she managed to gulp it down and reply. "It's good, you could become a master chef, you know, even without instruction manual," she grinned. "But not all of them have something like that on them," she pointed to the backside of the box, "I think it's just that one brand."

"Ah. Oh, well, at least something to make fun of," Faith countered and began to spoon the cereal herself. Willow grabbed one of the waffles and nibbled on it.

"So… what are you gonna do this week?" the redhead asked after a couple of moments. Willow knew what she was doing next, but she had absolutely no idea how Faith's weeks usually went.

"No idea," Faith thought about it, "guess I'll spend most time at school and bug you guys," she snickered.

"Ah," Willow nodded. "But while you're at it…I think there's something else you can do," she continued when Faith gave her a prodding look, "Well, it's almost end of term and that is usually the time when students suddenly find out that there is a library at their school; and in their desperate last-minute-attempt to improve their grades somehow…," she stopped when she saw the slayer looking at her amused. Yes, Willow talking about the weird behavior of stressed out high school students in times of exams was a funny thing to witness. "Anyway, I'm sure that Giles could need a hand in the library."

"Fine by me."

"Plus… it's the week of the full moon, so…," she started, not really sure if Faith was up for Oz-watch.

_Whoa, hey, I wasn't signing up for Day School…_ "24/7 work…? Well, okay, I'm not gonna pout and whine, and Oz-watch is fine with me, but…24/7 work…?"

"No, don't worry, I guess, we and Giles and the others will probably take turns."

"'We'?" Faith smirked.

"Could be I happen to stop by in the middle of the night," Willow replied deliberately slow, "for some sort of research project…"

Faith knew that Willow was joking about the 'wink-wink' research project; making out with her girlfriend in front of her ex-boyfriend's eyes was definitely not on the redhead's agenda. But the sentiment was still appreciated.

"Research project, huh?" Faith asked in a low, provocative voice. "Been working on that long?"

Willow thought about it, "Hm, a little over two weeks now."

"Found out interesting things so far?"

"Some." _Definitely working on finding out everything I can._

"Such as?"

Abruptly, Willow remembered something that she had read a couple of days ago, something that was indirectly linked to Faith. "Hm…remember what I called this?" she asked as she touched the hollow of the slayer's throat with her index finger.

Faith wrecked her brain, thinking back at their first night, "Sorbet…sorbili…something…"

Willow grinned, "Well, 'sorbilia' or something roughly means 'to suck' in Latin."

"Get out of here," the slayer laughed out loud.

"Don't know what 'maphonensis' means yet, but it could be something like that as well…,"

Willow replied, her finger not leaving Faith's throat. "Or not… I don't… know…"

When she saw the intense look on Willow's face, a thought came into Faith's mind. "Wanna make use of that knowledge you _do _have? You look like it," she addressed the dreamy expression in Reddie's face.

Willow didn't need to be asked twice. She put down her toast and took the bowl out of Faith's hand.

One second later, the brunette felt yet again how forceful the little Wicca could be when she really wanted something. Half lying on the couch with Willow attached to her neck, Faith suddenly protested. "Wait, Red, not the couch, please."

"Oh," Willow got up quickly, understanding the meaning behind Faith's words. "Bed?"

"Bed," Faith confirmed and followed suit.

They looked at the food briefly, the cereal would be slobbery by the time they were done, but that wasn't really important for them. The hunger for food had been replaced by a hunger for something else.

Willow ran ahead, with Faith close behind. The slayer was surprised when her girlfriend made a left turn and entered the brunette's room instead of rushing into her own. But Faith's room had definitely advantages: no Amy and no big panorama windows that needed to be taken care of first.

Squealing and giggling could be heard as two bodies plopped down on the bed.

* * *

Finch was dragged into the Mayor's darkened office by two of this one's lackey vampires. Richard Wilkins, already expecting him, acknowledged his presence with a short glance. "Sit down, Allan," he ordered.

When the man didn't comply immediately, one of the lackeys grabbed him by the shoulder and shoved him into a sitting position in one of the chairs by the Mayor's desk.

"Did you rest well?" Wilkins inquired, at the same time trying to bring order into the not-really mess on his desk.

Finch didn't reply. He was… He hadn't forgotten, what had happened before Trick had attacked him. He knew that he had a deal with Buffy and Mr. Giles and all the others to provide them with information about the Mayor's plans – to help them stop the Ascension. And he knew that the Mayor had gotten wind of this deal as well.

"You know, you're going to have to talk to me at some point, so why don't we start now?" the Mayor tried again.

Finch just nodded in response. Of course he hadn't rested well. His neck was stiff and, more importantly, injured. And he still was not one hundred per cent certain, if he was really alive or not…

"See? Wasn't so hard, was it?" Wilkins chuckled acknowledging Finch's reaction and got up from behind his desk. "Now, Allan…," he stressed the name deliberately, "I have to say, I am very disappointed in you," he started to pace the length of his office. "I can't see why you felt that you had to go about behind my back. I would have kept my promise of sparing you after my Ascension. So what on earth made you seek contact with the slayers and tell them about my plans?"

He looked at the man intently, but this one still didn't reply, just looked at him, very well knowing that he couldn't harm the soon-to-be demon in any way. He just wished he knew what to do.

"Fine. If you don't want to tell me about it just now, that's okay, you don't have to. But, still, you have to make up what you did to me. I'll give you a chance to make it all better," the Mayor cackled maliciously and put his hand on his deputy's shoulder. Then he bent down and whispered in his ear. "If you don't play along, I'll ask our dear Mr. Trick to finish his job. And believe me, I would give him permission to kill you… just in case you were thinking about that other alternative."

_To be continued..._

* * *

**A/N: **Surprise! I didn't kill Finch! :P Psst, originally I _had _planned to kill him... but after thinking about it for a very long time, keeping him alive seemed more logical. Don't ask me why, ask my brain... ;)


	32. Revelations

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the because of...what do you call this again...oh, right, "life"! ;)  
**Thanks to: **My lovely betas Wil-Lehane- and K  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

* * *

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO -- REVELATIONS

Early mornings – Faith hated them. And getting up at 6.30 a.m. was definitely early, at least according to her standards. Willow had let her sleep as long as possible, knowing that Faith could react grouchy if one woke her too early.

However, a cold shower and three cups of coffee later, Faith was perky enough to take on this day; almost a little bit too perky for Willow's taste, who swore to trick Faith into drinking at least one cup on decaf coffee the next time.

Because even if Willow herself was no morning grouch, hyperactivity this early in the day was something that made her more lively _herself_ – one reason for Buffy forbidding her to drink this beverage; it tended to make her even more babbly and squeaky than usual. Not that this was a bad thing per se, it just could get on your nerves sometimes.

And witnessing this in another person for basically the first time, made Willow understand Buffy's caffeine-embargo. On their way to school, Faith babbled on and on about everything and nothing; occasionally she allowed Willow a comment to a certain subject, though the redhead was okay with just listening – her babbling girlfriend didn't bother her...yet. And once she got her hands on the decaf, Willow was certain that she would not-bother her even less.

Fifteen minutes later, they entered the library; Faith had at least cooled down a little bit, maybe the effects of the coffee were already starting to wear off.

"Dropping off Miss Lehane for her first day," Willow informed any possible inhabitants of the library – meaning, of course, Giles, whom she knew would be here by now.

Faith almost jumped at the use of her family name, having nearly forgotten that Willow knew about it. The little redhead had gotten her will yesterday and had talked Faith into a long hour of clearing several things up and getting to know each other a little better – Faith's last name had been just one of those many things.

Another one… took Willow by surprise, and that is an understatement. When the topic of middle names came up, and the redhead readily stated her middle name to be 'Danielle', Faith in return told her that her middle name was… 'Faith'. Faith confessed that she had reasons for not going by her first name, but when Willow wanted to know more, the brunette began blocking and Willow backed up quickly.

Eventually Faith would tell her what had happened; she knew that, though Faith had not promised to tell her…something Willow hadn't asked for either.

But… she _had _asked her girlfriend what her real first name was, and Faith had let her in on that secret… although, a little more lightheartedly again, swearing to tickle Willow to death if this one told anyone about_ that _name. Because she had never liked it to begin with, anyway, even without the later, specific reasons that made her not like it.

When it came to birthdates, Faith was more open again, and they realized that they were born in the same year – were about one year younger than the rest of the Scoobies, except Oz, who was two years older. Faith, however, was still much younger than Willow. Exactly eight months and nineteen days, when it isn't a leap year. 'If you were born eleven days later, you would have been a Christmas prezzie,' Willow had theorized and had kissed a grinning Faith on the cheek.

Willow had confessed that she liked her prezzie and everything she knew about it by now, even though she knew that the details she didn't know about yet would be less than comical. What she especially liked was the slayer's last name; it was one of those that outsiders would tend to pronounce wrong upon reading it for the first time, but sounded great, once you knew how you _should _voice it.

Giles, the all-knowing librarian, who was also on top of the pronunciation of said name – quite contrary to Wesley – came walking out of his office when he heard Willow. "Yes, excellent," he smiled and walked over to his new 'employee'. The redhead had called him last night to prepare him for the dark-haired whirlwind that was going to scurry through his library in the following weeks, of course pursuing a solely useful purpose.

"Okay, I gotta run, I'm a bit late today," Willow said, looking at the clock on the wall.

"My fault," Faith shrugged with a grin.

"I'll check in during lunch break," the redhead laughed at Faith's comment – which was true – and exited.

Giles and Faith had started their "work" day with a cozy cup of tea, though the slayer would have preferred coffee. The combination of the not-so-exciting job of a librarian and the soothing effects of tea was still a mystery to her. Or maybe it was only one of those British things; her watcherused to infuse her with tea as well, but with the purpose to sedate her…

And this fact had made her observe Giles more closely and suspiciously. Maybe Giles feared that his 'lively charge' would cause havoc in his most of the times oh-so-quiet library.

The Englishman had caught her wary expression and had reassured her that unfortunately tea was the only thing that he had in his office right this moment; following this, he had promised to organize some coffee for her tomorrow. Faith had accepted this with a genuine smile.

Giles allowed her 'flexible work time', meaning she could come in whenever she wanted and work as much or as a little as she wished – it wasn't like she really got paid for this, it was just some sort of occupational therapy for her and a way to help Giles out.

After their cup of tea, Giles had given her the tour through the library, explained the card index to her – something that, until now, Faith had no idea about what it was for, but was surprised at how easy it was actually constructed…at least, once you knew how to read it.

He showed her the stacks and gave her the inside scoop on the shelving system, and last but not least…introduced her to the most dreaded part of his job – the booking device that was directly linked to the computer. Faith herself wasn't a whiz when it came to computers, but it was safe to say that her knowledge in this department was much more profound than Giles's. Thus the librarian made a mental note to let her handle the majority of the computer-related parts of his work. The brunette didn't mind; in the last few months, she had gotten pretty good insights on his uneasiness around this thing.

* * *

Allan Finch's uneasiness was of a different nature, but most likely more intense than Giles's. He had spent the last two days in City Hall – involuntarily. Since he had lied to Trick about having family, there was no one, who really missed him. The only thing stilling his uneasiness some was the certainly that he was still alive. Not undead, but alive. Human.

The mayor had forced him to give him information about the slayers and their band of researchers, to tell him everything he knew about them and everything that he had told them about him.

Wilkins wasn't angry at Finch, since the most important details still seemed to be lost on the Scoobies – and to Finch himself; however, he was working on a way to throw the slayers off his scent somehow, or expand his advantage in some other way.

And Allan… would play a pivotal role in this scenario now; both, he and the Mayor were aware of that.

Whom he was going to help, was the question. He had something to fear, that was certain. The Mayor could kill him off, in case he decided to sell him out to the Scoobies, which would leave him no chance to help them any more in stopping the Ascension… The Ascension that would literally be followed by hell on earth – a paradise for the then ascended Mayor, quite the opposite for _everyone _else. He had heard enough to know how the world would really be like after the Ascension.

Now was the question, if he should risk his own death providing the Scoobies with further, maybe not even essentially helpful information, or if he should find another way.

* * *

Tuesday had been an unusually uneventful day in the lives of the Scoobies. Faith had gotten more familiar with the library and had actually started to enjoy her job, especially the work with the card index. Lunch break had been spent with Willow and her college admission packets, which Giles had wanted to have a closer look at. She had proudly shown him her brochures from Oxford, Cambridge and St. Andrews, the ones he, of course, had been most interested in.

Giles had practically beamed with pride upon thinking that Willow might go to Oxford, his alma mater; Faith had been equally proud of her brainiac, but didn't show it that much, not only because she had no idea how Willow's choice of college would affect their relationship. She knew that she couldn't leave Sunnydale, but she didn't want Willow to stay here just because of her – it wouldn't be fair to the redhead.

She had no idea if she would be any good at long distance relationships; hell, she was only starting to get a handle on this relationship-thing, but one thing she knew – she didn't want to give up Willow, and unless an unforeseen catastrophe happened, she hoped that she wouldn't have to. But they would still have to discuss their situation post-Willow-graduation at some point – Faith just hoped that it wouldn't have to be so soon.

When the guys had gone back to their classes, Faith had confessed her feeling in Giles that she knew that the redhead would become something big someday. The librarian had mistaken the beaming yet distressed expression on the girl's face and thought that she had been reminded on her own school days. He was familiar with her file, and after having talked to Wesley and the council psychiatrist was convinced that Faith could excel in school if one gave her the chance to.

He hadn't let her in on his plans, though, he needed to clear a few things up with Wesley, his only working link to the council, before he went and eventually disappointed Faith.

Tuesday had also happened to be the night before the full moon, which meant Faith was on Oz-duty. Willow had come by after school and had accompanied her girlfriend in the library as long as possible, doing her homework and studies there, while Faith had been busying herself with whatever came to mind: mostly browsing through some books and carving new stakes – some of them turned out to be true works of art, as Willow had pointed out upon closer inspection.

When the inevitable had come to pass and Willow had to go home, it had been one hour before midnight. But of course Faith hadn't let her girl walk home alone – a grumpy Buffy, who had been almost ready for bed after going on patrol without her slaying partner yet again, had been called to pick Willow up and escort her home safely. Oz, in full-blown wolf mode, had howled consentingly.

After Willow's departure, Faith had spent the rest of the night trying to stay awake. Oz's two-o'clock-feeding had been the most exciting part of the after-midnight shift; however, the werewolf had been cooperative enough for her to not having to use any violence on him.

By the time Giles had shown up, shortly after sunrise, Faith had almost fallen asleep. The librarian had told her to go home and sleep in. And the slayer had done as asked – at least she had gone home; but sleeping in had been only the second point on her agenda. Number one had been…crawling into Willow's bed and snuggling with her. Of course, this activity had soon resulted in her drifting to sleep, anyway.

Shortly after, maybe about two hours later, the redhead had to literally fight her way out of the brunette's claws, and had only succeeded when the other girl had rolled on her back ungrudgingly. The redhead had noticed that Faith was…not really wearing much of anything, Faith must have been tired enough to not care about something like that. Willow had hastened to pull the blanket over her girlfriend, not knowing how long she could stand that sight before she started to seriously consider skipping today's classes.

Faith had no idea how late it actually was, when she finally woke up and was surprised to find out that it was hardly 11 o'clock. She drank two cups of the coffee that Willow had brewed for her…and which tasted a little peculiar today…before leisurely making her way to school.

One more cup of coffee at the library – which strangely had a much stronger effect on her than Willow's had, she made her way into the stacks to shelf some of the returned books.

"Giles?" Faith neared his office after maybe half an hour of 'work'.

"Yes?" Giles asked, getting up from behind his desk, where he was reading in one of his musty, old books, approaching her.

"I, um…," she fidgeted around a little, not sure if she should do what she is about to do, "I wanted to ask, if I could borrow some money from you," she finally got out, looking at him with little girl's eyes. Normally she wasn't that kind of person that asked others for favors, but this time it was important.

For a second, she had thought about hitting up Wimpy, since he was her 'actual' watcher, or resort to her usual 'organize-money'-methods; however, she thought that she'd have a shot at Giles first.

"Oh, yes, of course," Giles rejoined immediately. "You and Willow are having money trouble, I assume," he prodded, mentally kicking himself for not having thought about that sooner.

"Oh, no, that's not it," Faith hurried to negate this, "…at least not yet," she added on second thought. When Giles looked at her questioningly, she went on to explain, "Actually…I wanted to buy a little present for Will, you know, I wanted to… you know, reciprocate for her letting me live with her."

"Ah," Giles smiled, liking the idea, "very good". Faith sighed relieved when she received the positive response. "However, if you should experience money issues sometime, don't be afraid to ask," he said before turning around to go back into his office, presumably to retrieve the money.

"Thanks," she replied and made a move to follow, just when the library doors swung open.

"Oh, hey, it's our two favorite little librarians," Buffy declared as she and Willow came closer.

"What are you two doing here?" Faith exclaimed surprised; she wondered if she had missed the ring of the school bell while wandering through the stacks.

"Well, remember what I told you?" Willow addressed Faith, "Students? Some of them tend to go into the library occasionally…"

"Oh, right,_ that_ weird species," the brunette made a mocking gesture to slap her forehead.

Buffy shook her head amused, "Anyway, we're just stopping by for a…well, book," she said, deliberately eyeing the stacks.

"Yeah, for study hall later. We wanted to cram a bit for a test," Willow added.

"Ah, I see," Giles remarked and went into his office.

"Well, which one?" Faith asked, going over to the card index, "I think by now I know how that thing works," she added, very eager to help – the main reason for this, of course, was wanting to impress Willow.

The redhead laughed when she saw Faith standing behind her new toy, "You're adorkable. But, thanks, I know where to find that book," she mentioned quickly before going up the stairs.

Faith had no time for being disappointed; Willow's reply still rung in her ears. _Adorkable_?…

No one had ever dared to call her that, but then again, it wasn't like she _had _ever heard_ that_ 'word' before. "'Adorkable'!?" she turned around quickly and moved to run after the redhead that had already disappeared into the stacks. "Run for your life, Reddie, 'cuz once I catch you, I'll show you adorkable!" she threatened and sprinted up the stairs.

You could hear Willow laughing from afar.

"They're getting weirder…," Buffy turned towards Giles laughing, the watcher just… 'watched', marveling at the chemistry that his younger slayer and his young witch in training seemed to have.

"Ha! Gotcha!" Faith said seconds later, catching up with Willow in one of the isles in the back of the library.

"Well, I wasn't really trying to get away," Willow smirked as she turned around to face Faith.

"Morning," she kissed her girlfriend square on the mouth.

"Morning," the brunette answered. "I didn't wake you today, did I?" she asked, referring to when she had gotten home today.

"Nah," Willow negated this, "it was nice…to wake up with someone snuggled up to you." _Someone naked…, _she thought to herself, loving the mental image.

"Loved to be of service, then. But I hated to let you go so soon," Faith pouted, "I tell you, tomorrow you'll really have to walk around with me attached to your back," she remembered herself waking up all alone in the big house.

"Well, that's gonna be hea…uh…," Willow stopped before the bad word could slip out, "difficult, but I'm gonna try," she batted her eyes dulcetly.

Faith not quite forgave her the near-but-maybe-even-intended-faux-pas, "I'll just make myself extra heavy for you, then," and returned the look. "So, didn't you say that you wanted a book or something?"

"Oh! Right, I did!" Willow looked around quickly, having forgotten about that already. _Wrong isle._ She rushed through the stacks with Faith on her heels, stopped abruptly when she found the shelf that she had been looking for… and felt Faith bumping into her. "Tomorrow," she laughed, "Tomorrow you can cling to my back, not today."

"Sorry, guess I'm practicing," Faith grinned and threw her arms over the redhead's chest from behind.

"Okay," Willow replied, ignoring the slayer's arms while her eyes scanned the shelf, looking for the desired book. After a couple of seconds, her arm reached up and took one book from the uppermost shelf.

"Why did I have the feeling that it had something to do with chemistry?" Faith asked as she read the book title over Willow's shoulder.

"Hm…don't know. Maybe because you figured out the layout of the library already?" Willow replied with a sideways glance. Off Faith's _And?-Isn't-that-something?_ look, she continued, "Which is cool. Most students don't even know that…especially not after two days. Well, okay, they aren't geeks, you know," she grinned and nudged Faith with her elbow.

"I'm NOT a…," Faith started with a faintly offended look.

"That was a compliment!" Willow hastened to pacify, "I like geeks…sorry…"

"Oh…," Faith replied; but after thinking about it a little while, she started to pout, "still doesn't make me feel any better…"

"Aww," Willow sniffed in sympathy, "maybe I can do something about that," she put her hand behind the slayer's head and kissed her on the cheek. "Better?"

"Hm…no," Faith countered, still pouting.

"Okay." The redhead's hand applied more pressure to the brunette's head, forcing her to face her. Then she kissed her full on the lips. "_This_ better?"

"A little," Faith confirmed. This time she initiated the kiss, keeping her arms around the witch's shoulders firmly, leaving Willow no chance to break the kiss. Just when her girlfriend was on the verge of suffocation, Faith had mercy and released her lips. "_This_ is better," she grinned.

"Well, as long as you're happy," Willow replied out of breath.

"Maybe…'happy' isn't the right word," Faith thought and moved her hand to Willow's face, "not yet, anyway," she continued and kissed her girlfriend greedily.

* * *

Giles walked through the stacks, looking for Faith and specifically Willow. Buffy had told him to inform Willow that she had already gone ahead, heading towards her, and also Willow's, next class.

When he heard some giggling from one of the back rows, he went there. He wondered why Willow was still lost in the depths of the stacks – this wasn't like her, she was mostly one of the first to arrive at her respective classes; today she was close to being late.

But as he rounded the corner, he had to realize that Willow apparently had some more interesting things on her mind…or more specifically, on her neck.

His eyes were fixed on the two people that had their backs turned to him, literally speaking, and the rest of the world, figuratively speaking, right now. Faith had her arms around Willow from behind and was nibbling at this one's neck gently… as far as he could tell. He couldn't see what Willow was doing, but he could hear approving noises, encouraging the slayer.

The signs were rather unambiguous. Giles… had just stumbled in on a very intimate moment between two lovers.

_to be continued..._

* * *

**A/N #1: Uh-oh! Now how do you think Giles' react? :P**

**A/N #2: Feel free to guess what Faith's first name is. You'll have to wait a little till I tell you, though. But here are two hints: 1) It's the first name of an actor/actress in the Buffyverse. 2) A character goes by a similar name  
**


	33. Shifting

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the because of...what do you call this again...oh, right, "life"! ;)  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

**A/N: **This is only beta'd by me, so there might be some mistakes left ;)

**A/N #2: **Re: Faith's first name. Your guessings weren't bad, hehe, I guess I gave you one too many hints. If one of the guesses was correct, I won't tell you right now, though (but the name does start with "Al") :P Okay, now let's see what Giles is doing.

* * *

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE --- SHIFTING

Giles stared for a minute. Openly – yet unnoticed by the couple.

When he had finally recovered from the initial shock, he retreated as silently as possible, trying to wrap his mind about the idea of Willow and Faith as a couple…or at least the idea of Willow and Faith sharing caresses. However, it didn't look as if they were doing that for the very first time, so 'couple' might still be the more appropriate label.

He remembered the last time that he had found the redhead…having fun in the stacks. Back then, it had been with Xander; and reconsidering his newest discovery…that sight had been far less shocking, though the conversation he had recently heard the two girls having about 'physical education' and finding inappropriately appropriate broom closets to make out in should have been a clue, he thought as he walked back the office area. 

* * *

Willow and Faith hadn't noticed anything; they only had eyes…or lips and hands…for each other. Willow had now turned around in Faith's arms, giving Faith the chance to kiss her more directly again.

After awhile the slayer's right hand moved lower, until it reached the redhead's left one that was inconveniently pressing the chemistry book into her side. "Lose the book, sweetie," she mumbled against her lover's lips, rather wanting to feel her girlfriend's hand than a book cover at her flank.

The redhead chuckled as she broke the kiss and stepped out of the slayer's reach.

"Hey, I didn't mean it like that…," the brunette sniffed disappointedly and made a move to follow.

"Sorry," Willow replied, "but I gotta go, anyway. We can finish this another time, okay?"

"Fine," Faith pouted, "get your 'adorkable' self out of here, then," the pout turned into an evil smirk, "before I do something to keep you here."

"Alright. Later," Willow fled as quickly as possible; she knew that she wouldn't have a chance, if the slayer really tried to keep her there, but Faith had mercy and let her go ungrudgingly.

Willow sprinted down the stairs and handed the book over to Giles, who checked it out at a remarkable speed… for a librarian with computer-phobia and a strong urge to polish his glasses.

Willow told him that she'd check in again after study hall and hurried out of the library to get to her class in time.

When she was gone, Giles ripped off his glasses and cleaned them vigorously, wishing that Willow would have found another snogging place. After all, the stacks of his library weren't meant to make out in.

Faith, who just re-emerged from the depths on the library, missed this gesture.

* * *

_Funny – didn't I tell Oz last week that 'Next time we'll just go into the stacks'? Gee, guess I was right…_, Willow grinned, as she ran to reach her next class in time.

She entered and found her place right next to Buffy – two minutes before the beginning of the lesson, as a quick glance at the wall clock told her.

"I swear, I was just gonna go up and check if she did something to you," Buffy commented as she watched Willow unpack rapidly. "What took you so long?"

"I, uh…," Willow laughed nervously, "we were just…you know, Faith wanted to find the book…a-and I let her…a-and, oh, bad idea, took longer than I thought...especially since we got all turned around, and even I got confused…but I only noticed that when I started looking for the book…"

"Happens to the best of us, huh?" Buffy smirked mischievously.

"Anyway…," Willow continued, ignoring the barb, since the blonde seemed to buy her story at least, "now I'm here – with book."

Buffy made a face, remembering what having the book meant for her – she still hated chemistry. "You should've let her look for a little while longer. Say two…or three…years?"

"I think she would have found it sooner," Willow laughed, "she's smart, you know. Just a little out of it sometimes."

"Hm," Buffy shrugged.

"Guess that could be a slayer thing," the redhead teased her best friend back.

"Hey!" Buffy pouted. But any possible comeback of hers was stopped as the teacher came in.

* * *

"Faith," the librarian said when he saw her coming down the stairs, getting her attention.

The slayer walked over to him and saw Giles pulling out his wallet with an extremely peculiar expression on his face, which Faith couldn't quite place and therefore decided to ignore it.

He handed her a couple of bills, which, upon seeing it, made her screech, "Seventy bucks!?"

"Oh, it's not enough?" Giles asked, confused for a second, wondering exactly how big this 'little' present was that Faith wanted to buy.

"No! I mean, yes! ...Or no…it's more than enough…," she looked at him with perplex yet thankful eyes, "I'll give you back the rest when I'm done. And payback in installments, okay?"

"By all means, keep it," he nodded and moved his hand awkwardly, as if he wanted to pat her shoulder. "And don't be afraid to ask me for money, if need be," he tried to smile, "o-or advice…or anything, really. I'm always here for you."

"Okay…thanks." Faith tried not to read anything in his behavior and thought that it was probably better to ignore it.

She smiled briefly, before an uncomfortable silence started to spread out between them. Giles worked hard on avoiding to stare at what he believed was now Willow's 'girlfriend' or at least 'love interest' – the situation was still a little hard for him to comprehend; Faith simply stood about awkwardly, looking for something to do or say – Giles's was starting to become a little unnerving for her.

"Shall I…Shall I do the labeling and indexing for the new books?" she finally asked and pointed over to a pile of books that was sitting near what Giles liked to call 'the dreaded machine'.

"Oh, yes, that is a good idea," Giles replied and only one second later, Faith was already sitting behind the computer and opened the library's book catalogue with a few mouse clicks.

Both were glad that the oppressing silence was finally gone.

"D-Do you know how it works?" Giles asked the brunette.

"I'll ask you if I need help, okay?" Faith smiled. On Monday, Giles had given her some fuzzy instructions about how the labeling and indexing was supposed to work. She could tell that he really wasn't fond of computers, since she had only understood half of what he was trying to say and show her. But Faith wouldn't be Faith if she hadn't engaged her own private computer expert in giving her a more detailed and understandable introduction into that subject last night.

"Good. I'll be in here, if you need me," he said, walking into his office.

Once he was out of her sight, Giles took off his glasses and sat down in his chair. He leaned back and massaged the bridge of his nose, keeping his eyes closed for long moments. He hoped that his newfound awkward behavior towards Willow and/or Faith wouldn't become too obvious to them or the others. He had no idea, if their involvement was a matter of common knowledge or if he just happened to stumble in on a secret – and right this moment, he wasn't too keen on finding out.

* * *

As promised, Willow came back later, with Buffy and Xander in tow. The gang spent some time in the library, doing homework and other work that needed to be done. Giles kept away from the group for the most part of the afternoon, busying himself with organizational matters.

The mayor's activities seemed to be reduced to a minimum, Finch hadn't called them yet with possible new info – which meant there was nothing much to do at the moment. Consequently, all of them called it a day early…all of them, except Faith, who was on Oz-duty again.

This time the brunette had made Willow leave before sunset, not wanting to take any risks. The night was…long and…boring, just like the last one had been; Werewolf Oz wasn't the most exciting party animal to be around, he spent the larger part of the night sleeping, dozing or eating. Well, even in the short time before he had wolfed out, there hadn't been much interaction between them. It wasn't awkwardness… it was more a kind of mutual respect. Friendly, though, not fearful or aggressive. Ex-boyfriend and now-girlfriend, who were actually getting along…somehow… neither of them was sure, how often such a thing really happened. Of course, Oz's innate taciturnity and Faith's equal tendency to not talk if there was no real need to also added to the lack of communication.

Maybe they would have a talk at some later time, but now the need wasn't there.

Since this was still a library, Faith still found something to keep her occupied throughout the night. Some books in the section on Northern American history caught her interest and she browsed through several of them. Up until that point, at which she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer and fell asleep, snuggled up in the comfy chair that served as the library's reading area.

* * *

When Giles entered the library a couple of hours later, he found two sleeping teenagers. One of them was snoring in the book cage, the other one was murmuring something while sleeping in a chair up the stairs.

The watcher briefly checked on Oz and noticed that he was already back to his human self. After unlocking the cage's door, he went over to the brunette.

He crouched down in front of the slayer, getting ready to wake her. Just when he was about to shake her lightly, she mumbled, "Honey, can you tell that stupid sheep to get off my feet? I need to pee."

Giles watched amused, as Faith fought with the armrest of the chair, supposedly the thing that resembled the sheep in her dream. The brunette was sleeping, that much was certain, and Giles felt bad for having to wake her. But he thought that it would be better to wake her and make her go home, into a real bed. "Faith," she shook her gently.

"You're the smart one – I don't speak its language," the slayer glowered and clutched the book she was holding. Giles had an idea who 'the smart one' in Faith's dream could be, and after one night of sleeping on it, he was starting to cope with it. He might not approve of the relationship…yet – most 'parents' have initial problems with new partners of their 'children', regardless of which sex this partner was – but he was not entirely against a relationship between the girls.

"Faith," he ventured again, trying to take the book out of her hands, thinking that this could be a way to wake her up.

"No…," Faith gripped the book even tighter, "now it's eating my pillow! What did you say?!"

she whined and did her best to keep her 'pillow' from its inevitable fate.

"Faith, you're dreaming," he finally stated the obvious.

"I am?" It was not very clear, if Faith really identified this statement as coming from Giles or if she associated it with her Dream Willow. But when she opened her eyes slowly, he knew that she had heard him.

"Oh, Giles," she rubbed her eyes, "morning." She let him take the book from her and set her feet down on the ground, "Sorry…guess I fell asleep," she looked at him with an apologetic expression. "But only for," she glanced at the clock, it was shortly after seven, "oh…two hours."

"Oh, please, this is entirely understandable," he calmed her nerves. "Go home, try to get some more sleep."

"Alright," Faith nodded, glad that he wasn't mad at her, "but I think I need to go the bathroom first," she grinned and waved goodbye before heading out.

* * *

Faith entered the house just in time to hear Willow's alarm clock go off. She knew what this meant, her having to catch up on her sleeping and Willow having to go to school – it meant even more hours of not being able to do couple-y things like snuggling and sleeping together…even if it was only in a sleeping kind of way.

But she wasn't going to take that and therefore sprinted into Willow's room and into her bed before the redhead could even think about getting up.

"Now where do you think you're going?" Faith grinned as she pinned the yelping wicca to the bed. She was still tired, but didn't let this keep her from spending at least some awake-time with her girlfriend.

"Argh, jeez, you startled me!" the barely awake redhead tried to sound grumpy, but it came out amused nonetheless. It doesn't happen every day that you get jumped by a slayer in your waking up stage.

"Oh, poor baby," Faith purred and used the hand that she didn't need, since she was basically sitting on Willow, to comb through the fiery red hair. The little girl nestled her head into the warm hand with a soft smile. Moments later felt her eyes drifting shut again.

* * *

 "Don't you fall asleep on-slash-beneath me," she heard the warning voice, which seemed to be a little further away than she actually thought it should be, considering that Faith was right on top of her. "I don't wanna be held responsible for…whatcha call it?... 'marring your unblemished record'?"

This was too funny – hearing those words out of Faith's mouth, especially with the almost perfect imitation of her own voice. Willow giggled, "Well, then you have to do something about it," she suggested with her still closed eyes.

Faith seemed to obey. Willow felt how the weight on her shifted, felt Faith laying herself fully on her. Seconds later, she felt soft lips kissing her – forehead, eyelids, cheeks, nose and finally mouth.

Willow didn't seem to be opening her eyes any time soon; she only puckered her lips to provide her girlfriend with more contact surface.

But Faith didn't go on smooching. Instead she leaned up on her elbow and looked and the funny freckled picture with the pursed lips. "You're so cute," she whispered, tickling the lips with her fingertip.

"Don't tell me that too often, or otherwise I'll get all bigheaded," Willow laughed.

"I don't care. You're cute," Faith repeated her thought and snuggled closer, however, never forgetting that she was actually trying to keep Willow from going back to sleep. She used the thumb and index finger of her right hand to pry the redhead's eyes open. "And hopefully awake."

"Yeah, I'm awake," Willow removed the intrusive fingers from her eyes and turned to face Faith. "I guess I need a shower."

The brunette sniffed and shook her head, "My slayer senses say you're okay."

"Well…either you're a suck-up or your slayer senses are sleepy," Willow smirked. "Let me get up, okay?" Unlike Faith, she didn't have the physical strength to get up with another person still on top of her.

"Can't we snuggle some more?" Faith whined.

"Sorry, no," Willow stood…or rather 'lay' firm.

The slayer sighed overdramatically and rolled on her back, giving Willow the opportunity to get up. The redhead did, but she didn't head off into the bathroom right away; rather she assisted in getting Faith ready for bed.

She pulled off the slayer's sneakers, noticing how quiet the other girl had suddenly become. She didn't know if it was sleepiness or grumpiness, or a mixture of both. "Get some sleep," she suggested.

"Slept in the library for a whole two hours," Faith replied stubbornly with her arm thrown over her eyes. It was clear that she was, slowly but surely, starting to hate this situation, but she also knew that her 'slept for a whole two hours' argument wasn't enough to convince Willow that she was well rested.

"Alright," Willow replied and for a second Faith thought that she had misjudged her. "Get some _more_ sleep," Willow grinned and unbuckled Faith's belt to pull her pants off.

Faith grunted, "This sucks," and rubbed her sleepy eyes with the back of her hand. But despite the 'suckiness', she was cooperative enough to lift her butt and let Willow get rid of her jeans. When the redhead noticed that Faith was actually _wearing underwear_, she almost wanted to check if the other girl had temperature; this was just unusual.

"I know," Willow answered, helping her girlfriend under the still warm blanket. The 'breast girl' decided to not take off the slayer's shirt, knowing where this could lead. "But look on the bright side. One more night and this'll be over…for a month…"

"Okay," Faith mumbled, still not happy, but Willow's body warmth, which still emanated from the sheets, seemed to pacify her some.

"See you later, okay?" Willow kissed her cheek.

 "Miss you," the slayer replied, already half asleep again.

Willow showered quickly, before brewing the special 'Faith-coffee' and heading off to school. She herself was happy that the temporary 'working in shifts' that she and Faith had to put up with at the moment would be over tomorrow. Because as stupid as this might sound – even after not even one week of living together and sleeping in the same bed, she missed their shared nights. And the previous exchange showed her that the slayer felt the same.

But maybe Giles would have pity with her and let Faith spend the night at home.

* * *

Just as she had done yesterday, Faith got up around noon, slurped the Willow-made coffee and went to the library. However, Giles had already done most of the work of the day, so Faith was free to scamper about as she pleased.

Giles watched surprised as the slayer went straight into the Northern American history section again and buried her nose in the books. Had he known, he would have simply put her little pile of books on the card index – that way she wouldn't have to go look for them one more time.

But Faith didn't seem to mind. In fact, she came down the stairs a few minutes later, and upon seeing Giles sitting at the large wooden table, reading a newspaper, she asked, "Hey, Giles, did you ever check out this one?" she held up a dictionary of US-American history.

Reading the title, Giles replied, "Unfortunately, I can't say that I have."

"Oh, well," Faith shrugged, sitting down, "you should, some time. It's pretty interesting. There's something about the meaning of the states' names in there, for example."

"Oh?" he provoked her into going on. At any rate, Faith seemed far too enthusiastic to stop her from continuing, anyway. And he didn't want to stop her, either; spending some more time with her in the last few days, had changed his view on the young girl. He had never thought that she was really one for books, but found out that – once you made her spend some time near some of those – she could be a little book cracker. A little, not-really-unexpectedly smart book cracker. There were almost Willow-y traits to be noticed when one watched her handling books and other 'library-al' items in a seemingly unwatched moment. A very peculiar thought – as Giles had come to realize since yesterday.

"Yeah, like Virginia. 'At the end of the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth I of England, who was known as the "Virgin Queen" because she never married, gave the name Virginia to the whole area explored by the 1584 expedition of Sir Walter Raleigh along the coast of North America'."

Giles nodded, actually having heard that before. He didn't know much about American history, but he knew about some aspects that her influenced by his Britons.

Faith turned some pages. "And Massachusetts means probably 'The place of the big hills', 'generally taken as a reference to the Great Blue Hills, visible from the I-93 beltway south of Milton', though there are also other explanations sometimes," she went on. "Huh. I dimly remember having heard about that in school."

Giles smiled good-naturedly; it wasn't often that he heard the word 'school' out of her mouth. "Did you ever think about…going back?"

Faith knew what he was talking about, without him having to utter the word. "Sure," she replied immediately. "I mean, it would be kinda cool to have something…you know, in case I survive long enough to actually graduate…"

The watcher nodded in understanding. He couldn't promise her that she would ever hold a diploma in her hands, but he was still looking into giving her at least the chance to. The positive reply from the slayer only confirmed his assumptions.

The brunette didn't want to dwell on possible death-thoughts for long and decided to switch back to the original topic. "Wanna know another?"

"Hm?"

"California means either 'earthly paradise' or… here's the fun one… 'is apparently a combination of the Romance language roots cali- "hot" + forn- "oven". Spanish missionaries referred to the land in Latin as a calida fornax "hot oven"'" she looked at him expectantly.

"Which makes me wonder about the fire places in Californian homes," Giles took the bait and raised his eyebrows surprised. He had studied Latin at university, but if it wasn't for Faith and her book, he never would have thought about this strangeness.

Faith's eyes widened and she sat up straighter in her chair, "I said something like that to Will that night when we…," she stopped, rearranging the statement that could have given her relationship to the redhead away, "I mean, last week, when I moved in with her."

Giles nodded. He had no idea what Faith wanted to say originally, but knew that she probably feared to give something away. "I guess only non-Californians just don't understand that," he smiled, eliciting an assenting laughter from the slayer.

The library doors opened and they watched as Xander, Willow and Buffy entered.

"Hey, Dakota!" Faith exclaimed cheerily… then faltered. "Dakotas… Damn, why are you more than one? I don't know what the plural...," she looked at Giles for help, but he only shook his head.

"Maybe it's a singularetantum?" Willow suggested, and consequently bringing Giles to raise his eyebrows in thought; it was little likely that the Sioux don't have a plural for the word 'friend'; he was only mildly surprised that Willow knew about 'Dakota' at all – he knew that she was interested in a lot of things.

Faith didn't know what a _singulare…thing_ was, but she had a mild idea.

Buffy and Xander, on the other hand, having understood neither the 'Dakota' exchange nor the talk about the 'singularetantum', simply looked at each other with questioning eyes. "I give up," the young man said finally.

* * *

The slayers spent some part of the afternoon training in the library, while Willow helped Xander with his algebra homework.

Actually-in-charge-Wesley was busy with something else. Nobody really missed him and his weird training instructions, anyway…except Cordelia, who came in briefly, checking if he was there. She looked as if she wanted to ask him something important, and upon hearing that he wasn't there, she left disappointedly.

Faith and Buffy had their own training style; from previous training sessions and a few months of patrolling with one another, each slayer knew the strengths and weaknesses of the other one, which made their training much more efficient than it would be with a watcher in charge.

Buffy held up some pads and let Faith practice some punch moves. They had been practicing for almost an hour already and were correspondingly sweaty.

In the time that Xander needed to follow the explanations that she had given him and answer the tasks, Willow spent watching the slayers train. She was captivated by the sight, not so much by watching Buffy, of course. By watching Faith – and not only because of the tight black cycling shorts and the white tank top.

It was the contrast in Faith that fascinated her. The contrast of the little snuggle-addicted, grumpy-when-not-getting-what-she-wants and can-be-that-gentle-it-drives-you-nuts girl on the one hand and the badass with the tattoo and a punch so hard it could knock out a 300 pound giant immediately on the other.

Black and white, just like her clothes.

Faith felt the eyes that were practically burning holes into her back – and she loved it. She was used to being watched, but being watched by her girlfriend was definitely more exciting than anything she had experienced so far.

Giles noticed the way that Willow was looking at the brunette slayer, and with his newfound knowledge, he understood. He knew that he – deep down – wanted to find out about the exact proportions of the relationship; from a parent's point of view, but also from a watcher's.

"Um, W-Willow?" the watcher asked, averting the redhead's attention for a moment, "May I have a word with you?"

"Yeah, sure," the little witch got up from where she had sitting in front of the long forgotten school work and came over to him.

Upon hearing the exchange, the slayers interrupted their training briefly and watched, before Faith returned to her fighting stance and waited for Buffy to bring her pads into the proper position again. "Ready?"

Buffy just nodded and seconds later felt Faith striking at her again.

"What's up?" Willow asked as Giles led her into his office. Giles opened his mouth, not fully sure what words would come out of it.

 _to be continued..._

* * *

**A/N #3:** And now a little bit of etymology: a very smart page told me that "Dakota" means "friend". And a "singularetantum" is a word that only exists in the singular form... like "universe" or "apocalypse", though especially we Buffy-people know that the plural of "apocalypse" is "apocalyses" ;) There's different interpretations for what "california" actually means, but the "hot oven" theory is the funniest ;)


	34. Handling

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended! Parts of dialogues taken from the episode "Enemies". No copyright infringement intended either ;)  
**Schedule:** I'm planning to update this on a weekly basis. Unless I don't find the because of...what do you call this again...oh, right, "life"! ;)  
**Thanks to: **My lovely betas Wil-Lehane- and K  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

* * *

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR --- HANDLING

"What's up?" Willow asked and looked at the watcher with questioning eyes.

"I, uh…," Giles thought for a moment, reconsidering if he should address the matter that had been on his mind since yesterday or not. He did not necessarily want to disturb Willow and Faith with his maybe-knowledge. So he decided against it and tackled one other current matter. "I… wanted to ask you how far you have come with, um, decrypting the disks Mr. Finch has given to us."

"Oh. Oh, yeah," Willow replied, as if she suddenly remembered that those even existed. "I'm halfway through with the decryption. I was just a little busy lately, so I…didn't have much time to work on them… with… Faith moving in and all, and exams only a few weeks away," she explained apologetically. "But I'm almost finished with getting through to the Mayor's files. I think I found the program that will help us with that." She hadn't found any specific program that would help her, but she knew that Giles didn't know much about computers, much less the hacking of said machines. But she knew how she had to proceed to possibly get through to the desired information. And she knew that she would work on this tonight, because she felt at least a _little _bit guilty… about spending more time with Faith-related things instead of anything else.

To some extent, Giles seemed to feel Willow's guilt. "I didn't mean to rush you, but it's still good to hear this," the watcher smiled reassuringly. "We need to start preparing for the Ascension, and any other possible attacks the mayor might have planned before that."

"I get that," Willow confirmed resolutely. "And, really, I'll try to have it done by tomorrow, okay? I think it'll only take a couple more hours."

* * *

Unlike the previous nights, Giles volunteered for Oz-duty that night. He said that he had some work that he wanted to take care of.

Giles knew that having Faith at home might keep Willow from focusing on her work fully, but had enough… well, 'faith'… in her to not shirk her responsibilities over this.

And Willow knew what she had to do. She put her girlfriend, who was already starting to sulk, off. Great, now Faith didn't have to work the night shift anymore, but still couldn't spend some real quality time with the redhead.

Fortunately Wesley called during that critical period and informed Faith that he wanted her and Buffy patrolling tonight…which made Faith even more miffed, though she normally liked going on patrol.

Willow, however, managed to cheer her up with the promise that she'd be done with the work by the time Faith returned, and that they'd have the rest of the night to them. She even gave the brunette her word of honor when this one kept looking at her and her work rather skeptically.

Faith left reluctantly, but with the redhead's words in her ear that they'd have their night together the earlier she returned home.

Now, if she could only find the blonde slayer. She checked in with Joyce, who told her that Buffy had left to go to the movies with Angel about two hours ago.

Since her mind was now solely on finding B, patrolling some, and heading back home to have Willow-time, Faith sprinted down main street Sunnydale to head the other girl off, before this one could head into an unknown direction . Because this was not what she needed right now – to spend more time out here than necessary, just because she couldn't find her blonde counterpart. She noticed that she had arrived just in time, in more than one way, when she saw them – B and soulboy – standing on the middle of the street.

"See? Safe as houses," her slayer hearing picked up on the vampire's whispered words as she neared the couple…which was busying itself with smoochies.

Quite intense smoochies that elicited a, "Check out the lust bunnies!" from the amused slayer. Amused, but also a little jealous. She wanted smoochies. Soon. But with neither of them. And not necessarily in public.

The couple broke the kiss reluctantly and Buffy turned around to face the other slayer. "Patrol?"

Faith nodded. "Wimpy called. They want us down by Mercer."

"Okay," Buffy replied. Leaning up to her boyfriend to elicit another kiss, she said, "Goodnight." You could see that Buffy was not happy either to leave her lover here and now, and Faith understood that feeling very well. But if getting home again as soon as possible meant separating the couple for now… she'd just have to be a little bit selfish.

"I'll see you soon," Angel spoke, begrudgingly breaking the hold on his girlfriend's hand.

"Don't worry, big guy," Faith replied, linking her arm with Buffy's. "Just keeping her warm for ya." And with a mischievous wink, she dragged Buffy along. After patrol the blonde could go right back to her lover to let him, well, keep her warm… for all she cared.

* * *

Faith and Buffy made their way to the cemetery, silent for a couple of minutes. They couldn't shake the feeling of someone following them, but every time they looked around, the streets around them seemed to be empty.

Shaking the feeling off, Faith finally started a conversation. "So what movie did you watch? The 'Banquet d'…whatsit' one?"

"Yeah," Buffy replied, internally already hoping that the other slayer wouldn't ask anything about it.

But Faith – being as inquisitive as ever, understandably – didn't oblige. "Cool. What's it about?"

They entered the cemetery, and getting past the rusty remains of the gate gave Buffy at least some time to think. "Well, uh…I don't know…how to…"

Faith gave her a confused look. It couldn't be _that_ hard to tell her about the content of the movie, right?

"Well…," Buffy laughed nervously and thought about the least embarrassing way to get the content across. "Uh…how old are you again?"

"Sixteen," Faith replied, as if it was a matter of common knowledge…as if she was only stating the obvious.

The blonde looked her over for a second. Faith did look like a lot of things – but definitely not like a girl of sixteen years of age, though the brunette had hinted at this when they had talked about Buffy's Cruciamentum. "Right… that means you're legally… not old enough to see that one…"

Faith did a quick double take. "I'm shocked! You're making me curious, B!" Buffy watched closely, as the thoughts ran through Faith's brain. Knowing Faith a little, she knew what that girl had to be thinking right now. "Guess now I need to find someone old enough to go with me. Xan's eighteen, right?" she gave her friend a mischievous look.

"Don't you dare to drag him into this," Buffy grinned in return. "Will, neither. Oh, well, she's only seventeen."

"I know." For a second, the mischievousness in her attitude was gone; call it the 'Willow effect'. But when another thought entered her brain, her Willow-obsession got pushed back – but only for now. "But I could ask Giles or Wimpy. Isn't 'watching' part of their job description?"

Buffy decided to not answer Faith's remark. She knew that the younger girl could play this game indefinitely… at least as long as someone countered her comments, but if no one did…

The blonde went back to thinking about Angel and their relationship situation.

Faith, of course, noticed this. She had her own thoughts about the two of them, but figured 'love makes you do the wacky'. Judging Buffy's choice of relationship, while she herself was doing her best to hide her relationship with Willow, was probably not the best idea. But at least her and Will had one problem less – she couldn't help but wonder how poor Angel handled the X-rated movie; and Buffy herself wasn't made out of cold… desireless… stone either.

"Gotta tell you, B, the will power thing? Nice job," Faith stated in mild admiration.

"Thanks," Buffy replied absent-mindedly. "What?"

"The 'close but no cigar deal' with Angel," she explained. "I don't know if I could handle, you know, the way you're not handling it."

This statement was not a hundred per cent true; she knew… that she wouldn't be able to handle it. She had noticed that she could live without the cigar for a while… but definitely not without the handling…

Some funny fantasies started shooting through her brain. Involving a certain redheaded cutie… and an artificial cigar. Not that this was the first time that she had those fantasies, but it kept getting funner and more intriguing the longer she thought about it.

She hadn't talked to Willow about her thoughts yet, but knew that her girlfriend had already stumbled over her… toy collection. It would only be a matter of time before one of them – presumably Faith herself – would bring up the subject; and more importantly, would start to work on _walking_ thattalk.

'Walkless' Buffy replied a little tersely, "Faith, when it comes to Angel, do me a favor." The blonde noticed something behind the other girl and changed her wording, "Duck!"

Faith reacted fast as lightning, ducked and looked behind her to see Buffy punching a short 'guy' in striped shirt and black hat square across the jaw.

"Ow! Ooh! What are you, nuts? Going around punching people?" he whined as Faith jumped up and backed him against the wall of a crypt.

Buffy pulled off his hat to reveal pointy ears and two horns growing out of his forehead, Faith kept her hold on his collar. "People?" the blonde asked.

"So what, I'm a demon. That makes it okay?" Both slayers raised their stakes threateningly.

"Hold it, whoa!" the little demon threw up his hands in defense. "Stake me now, and you never find out what I got for ya. Huh? Think about it. Demon seeks Slayers, highly unusual?"

Buffy shoved his shoulder lightly, while both girls lowered their weapons, prodding him to go on. "Talk fast," Faith said.

"How would you like to get your hands on the _Books of Ascension_?" he waggled his eyebrows expectantly.

"_Books of Ascension_?" Buffy asked surprised; she had heard the watchers mentioning those, and that it apparently was extremely difficult to get your hands on them. And the little demon seemed to offer _them_ – possibly the most vital information about the mayor's plans – on a silver platter. The slayers looked at each other briefly, trying to figure out, if one could trust that little guy.

"More info, please," Faith stated.

"Hey, hey, read 'em and weep. That's all I got to say. Tomorrow, I get the books. Meet me here and if the price is right, well, I give the books to you."

Buffy was ready to give it a try; however, paying for it didn't seem to be an option for her. "Not really looking to trade with a demon."

"And if this were still a barter economy, that would be a problem. I want cash, princess, five large for the whole set," the demon barked his reply.

"So you can buy, I'm guessing here, some skin care products?" Faith added, equally unwilling to disburse, and five thousand dollars was more than just a little much.

The demon chuckled, only mildly amused. "Plane ticket. Out of the Hellmouth before its 'Adios, Slayer Loco'. So, five Gs, what do you say?"

Faith pulled out the stake again. "You know…I don't really wanna stake you," she looked at it, using the double entendre on purpose, "but if you come back tomorrow, I'm sure we'll have some more adequate weapons ready. So…if I were you, I would rethink my position on the five grant," she looked at him threateningly.

But halfway through her threat, the demon had already become scared, jumped between them and skedaddled.

Faith made a half-assed move to follow him, but Buffy stopped her. "Oh, let him go. Scaring him to death before we get the books wouldn't do us any good. Besides, I don't think he falls into the 'deadly threat to humanity category'."

"Not a threat, but if the Mayor gets wind of the books before we get them…," Faith thought, getting a little worried.

"We'll tell to Giles about it tomorrow. See what he'll say," Buffy offered.

"Sure we shouldn't be talking to Wimpy about this?" Faith grinned, despite the situation.

"Okay, he can listen too," the blonde laughed. "Come on, let's go home. I'm kinda beat."

"Huh. Why? There wasn't even any real handling, as I recall," she smirked. "But, uh…maybe you're planning on taking care of that at home, huh?" Faith couldn't help but tease. Or 'home' didn't mean the Summers' home, but the home of a souled vampire.

"You're evil," Buffy replied, blushing.

"This from the girl who just watched an X-rated movie in public," the brunette went on teasing.

"I wasn't…t-that was Angel's fault," Buffy stalked ahead, clearly feeling uncomfortable with the other girl.

"Yeah, yeah," Faith mocked, knowing very well that it most likely wasn't her fault; little Buffy was way too innocent for something like that…probably.

* * *

The brunette had no idea if Buffy had really 'handled' the situation that night or not; Faith, however – had, without the help of any battery-operated/artificial devices, and without having been worked up by a movie, but with the generous help of Willow, who had kept her promise and had finished her work by the time that she had came home.

It had been a good way to start the day; well, almost… the show had ended shortly before midnight …but it was a good way, nonetheless.

Faith was ready to face this new day, the day that she wanted to put some of her plans into action, some a little older, some very, very new.

She got up about one hour after Will, showered, drank the still funny-tasting coffee, and called Giles to tell him that she would probably be there around 1 pm. Then she left.

Her first stop was the local magic shop, where she bought something that was part of a matter of heart of hers. She hadn't been sure what to buy exactly, but the shopkeeper had been patient and cooperative.

Afterwards, she went into a kind of store, which she normally wouldn't be caught dead in; and if asked, she would most likely deny her knowledge about the exact location of one of those. Half an hour later, she came out, carrying a conspicuous bag that gave away more about the store's bargain than what was good for the slayer's dignity.

Therefore, she did her best to hurry home as quickly as possible.

But she only stayed there for a couple of minutes, hid the embarrassing bag in her closet and the magic shop item in the drawer of her bedside table. Walking over to her dresser, she pulled out a metallic item and stuffed it in the waistband of her pants.

When she left again, her destination was downtown Sunnydale, which still was only half a block away from main street Sunnydale, but was rarely frequented by mere mortals; since she didn't belong to this category…at least not a hundred per cent…she went there without any second thoughts or fears, soon closing in on the bar called 'Willy's Place'.

Faith descended the stairs that led to the bar. Entering, she immediately found all eyes on her. Not that this was entirely new for her, it happened sometimes that she suddenly found herself in the center of attention. But unlike bars or clubs, where the looks were mostly somewhere between fascinated and enthralled… in demon bars like Willy's they were apprehensive and cautious.

As on cue, about half the demons fled through the back entrance that led into the widely ramified sewers of Sunnydale… perfect for vampires to get through town during the day.

The rest of the clientele sat in silence, still staring at her, as if she were some sort of rare yet infamously dangerous animal; the rest of the clientele… except one floppy eared demon at a far back table that waved at her cheerily.

The brunette shook her head and smirked.

* * *

Back at Sunnydale High, the Scoobie Gang had just finished their biology lesson and was on the way to their next class.

Buffy had hoped that nobody would ever find out about her and Angel's little movie incident. However, she didn't bear in mind that Faith would tell her girl about it later on. Consequently, Xander got notice of it as well – and Buffy swore revenge; Faith would have to pay for giving the others a hook-in for jokes and double-entendre-y questions.

Buffy thought about her comeback very thoroughly. It had to be a good one. Maybe she would use tomorrow night's slumber party for her revenge – if she could come up the perfect thing by then.

Willow left a sulking Buffy and an amused Xander temporarily to tell Giles about the results of her last night's work. She had found out some interesting and pretty alarming things.

* * *

"Faith, sweetie," the demon came over and threw his crinkly, floppy arms around her, bear-hugging her, "it's been so long. I already thought something had happened to you."

After lifting her almost half a meter off the ground in his joy, he put her back on her feet, "No, Clemmie, I was just busy," she grinned.

Over Clem's shoulder, Faith had already seen the remaining demons relax upon seeing and hearing their affectionate behavior. Though back down on her feet, one meaningful look of hers in their direction immediately made clear that she was still the slayer and more than ready to do her job if necessary. Their demeanor returned to apprehensive immediately.

"Come sit with me. You up for a game?" he asked hopefully.

"Dude, she's gonna rip you off," another demon stage whispered, obviously talking from his own experience. Yes, Faith had more than one rep in Sunnydale's underworld: slayer and gambler, the latter one had mainly provided her with the rent for her motel room until last week. She was a good Poker player. She knew that Clem and his fellow demons preferred to play for kittens – though she never bothered to ask why. For her money was the only valid currency, of course.

Faith ignored the side remark by the other well-known demon – she had beaten him several times, in more than one way – and replied to Clem, "In a couple of minutes, okay? Just gotta take care of a little something first," she smiled.

The little something stood behind the counter, debating whether he should stay or run off.

"Hey, Willy," the slayer leaned on the counter top lazily, "I guess I need some info."

* * *

"I got the info," Willow said as she entered the library and headed for Giles' office, just in time to see him lifting his head from the desk full of forms and other paper work. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

Giles rubbed his eyes and put on his glasses, "It's, uh, it's alright, Willow. What did you find out?"

The redhead walked over and sat down in the chair next to him. "Well, I decrypted the disks and printed out what I could find on them," she handed him a folder, "I thought you'd want to check to see if it's important in any way."

"Wonderful," the watcher smiled at her genuinely. Sure, it meant more work for the sleep-deprived watcher, who rather wanted to be in his bed than here, but it was an improvement.

"But…here's the bad news," Willow continued, "the Mayor's files…by the time I got through the encryptions, the files were empty. Guess he saw me coming."

"Well, that's interesting… in a disquieting way. We have to find out if something is up; if so we have to take precautions."

"I'm sorry. Maybe if I had gotten through sooner, we could have found out something more," Willow apologized. Now the guilt was fully there; though she probably would never find out, when exactly the files had been emptied, if any possible information had still been there two or three days ago. She knew that Faith hadn't felt her guilt last night, though it had been there already. She hadn't wanted Faith to feel her guilt, and consequently blame herself for wanting to spend time with Willow – she had a feeling that Faith would do that.

"No, no, I know that you are trying your best," Giles interfered. "I-I know that it must be quite of a change, having to cope with a flat mate all of the sudden." Subtle way of addressing the Faith-subject.

"I think we're getting along fine." You know…sometimes it's challenging," she remembered yesterday's grumpiness-attacks, caused by too little opportunity for snuggle time, "but I guess it's better than living alone." As long as crises stayed away from them. Two – the 'lack' of 'twogetherness' and the guilt about too much 'twogetherness' – had been averted/suppressed last night.

"Yes, I imagine so," he replied, looking at her intently and waiting if she was going to tell him something more; he would never ask of his own accord.

Willow stared at him in return, wondering if there was more that he wanted to tell or ask her; there was something knowing in his eyes that she couldn't deny.

But Giles didn't ask and she wasn't keen on telling anything. "I'd better go. Class starts in a few minutes," she got up.

The watcher nodded, partially relieved that Willow didn't engage in that topic. "And I'll, uh, look through these files," he held them up.

"Okay," she made a move to leave, but turned around on second thought. "Oh, right, I guess I'll see you after class. Buffy and Faith have found out something on patrol last night." Apart from the fact that they are showing X-rated movies in the Sun Cinema."Something that might help us fight the Mayor," Willow knew a few of the details already, but figured that they could probably explain it better.

"Excellent," Giles replied and watched as she headed out, wondering what this something could be.

* * *

After 'squeezing' and/or punching the necessary information out of Willy, with the friendly help of her steel hammer fist, Faith settled down for a – for her successful – game of Poker with Clem and some other demons, one of which coincidently still owed her a favor.

She made the demon lead her to a hidden place, where she found the one last little something that she needed for today; well, she didn't necessarily need it, but it would make the last part of her mission a little more agreeable.

Her final destination was an apartment house near the bus station, compared to which the Downtowners Apartments – Faith's former home – almost had flair.

The slayer remembered the first time that she had been here all too well; the stench of urine and fast food had been the first thing she noticed when she stepped out of the Greyhound that brought her here. Not that she wasn't used to it; most bus stations looked and smelled the same all across the US, and probably all over the world. Because to her involuntary cross-country trip from the North East to the South West of the US, Faith had probably enough experience to judge.

She walked up the creaking stairs, stopped in front of apartment 324 and knocked.

"Just a minute!" she heard a startled voice shouting from inside, followed by some rustling and squeaking. The door opened about a minute later and revealed the little demon from last night, who looked a little stressed-out. "Hey! Slayer!" he yelped, recognizing her, "I-I didn't expect to see you here. It's not really tidy," he pointed behind him with his head, "but…uh, come in," he smiled politely yet frantically.

Faith entered and closed the door behind her. She didn't plan on staying long, she just wanted one thing. "You got the books?"

"Well, that depends. You got my money?" he asked hopefully.

Faith pushed the hem of her jacket back… and revealed the handle of a knife. The demon flinched visibly. There was the more adequate weapon that she had threatened to show him yesterday.

_to be continued..._


	35. Unexpected Surprises

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended! Parts of dialogues taken from the episode "Enemies". No copyright infringement intended either ;)  
**Schedule:** New schedule planny thing going on... more info after this chapter  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

* * *

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE --- UNEXPECTED SURPRISES

Faith reached further back, past the knife, and pulled out a bundle of money that had been hidden in the back of her pants. The demon relaxed immediately and she handed it over to him.

"Five thousand?" he asked a little skeptically, undid the rubber band that held the bills together haphazardly.

"Count it, if you want," she said patiently, though internally simply wanting to grab the books and get out of here.

The demon looked at it briefly. "No, I-I guess it's okay," he replied. Noticing her look, he told her, "The books are over there," and pointed over to the bed.

Faith walked over and inspected the books. Five in number, huge tomes, ancient, but still in an acceptable condition.

"Are you okay with them?" he stood right next to her nervously, the money in his hands temporarily of little importance. Maybe it was just the knife in the slayer's waistband that frightened him a bit. "I-I know, they're a little worn in some spots, some slight foxing, but otherwise..."

"They're okay," Faith answered; as far as she could tell, there was nothing wrong with them. But her mind already raced ahead. There was one thing that she hadn't thought about when she had cooked up her ingenious plan – how was she going to get the books to the library safely and unnoticed?

Looking around, her eyes fell on a bag pack that rested near the bed. "You still need that one?" she asked.

"No, no, take it," he replied, glad that the slayer seemed to be peaceful; something that he wouldn't have expected from their last night's encounter.

She stored the books diligently, giving the demon some last advice. "I'd say you get out of here as quickly as possible… Oh, wait," she straightened up and pulled a bus ticket out of her back pocket, "here, one-way ticket to L.A.," she handed it over to him, "consider it a little bonus," she added and went back to packing. There went the rest of the money that Giles had given her.

"Hey, thanks," the little demon replied, liking the slayer more with every second.

"Okay," Faith shouldered the load after having packed the last one of the books and having checked the zippers and locks thrice. "So…guess…hope we'll never meet again."

"Same here. I mean, not that you're not nice and all, but I can't wait to get out this town. Not planning on ever coming back."

"That's good to hear," the slayer replied and sounded almost relieved…at least for a teensy weensy bit. She made a move to leave, but the demon stopped her.

"Hey. And… good luck," he came over and shook her hand.

"Thanks," she smiled gratefully; she knew that he was referring to the Ascension, of course. "Take care."

And with this, she walked out of the door and left the harmless little demon alone with his money.

* * *

"And you say this demon wanted cash? That's very unusual."

Wesley's words, mainly directed at Buffy, who had told him about last night's patrol, brought mild amusement to the others' faces.

The core Scoobies plus Wesley were assembled in the library; the teens were seated around the table, while the watchers stood at the door of Giles's office.

"Demons after money. Whatever happened to the still beating heart of a virgin? No one has any standards anymore," Giles mocked him – and the modernly unorthodox demons, and ate his banana.

"Well, he said the books were worth the price," Buffy repeated the demon's thoughts.

"So, we know about the Ascension already," Xander chimed in, "but are you sure that the books could give us any new info?"

"If you ask me, we should find out as much as possible," Willow added. "I mean, from what I have read in the…uh…," she turned to Giles with an apologetic look, "Marenschadt Text…"

"Yes," the watcher countered with a stern look. About two weeks ago, after they had gotten the first chunk of information from Allan Finch, Willow had, conscious-stricken, told him about her recent discovery in his book cabinet. She had known that Giles would be less than happy to find out about her snooping around in his Black Arts books, but the impending apocalypse hadn't left her much choice.

After a massive lecture, a forced promise that she would stay away from these books…and after Giles, just to be sure, had found another hiding place for the magic secrets that Willow was not yet ready for, they had luckily made up, though Giles still monitored her magical behavior carefully.

"Ascension – not a love-in," Buffy concluded, having heard enough about it already.

"I think you should meet with this demon, Buffy," Giles replied, coming back to Willow's valid reply.

"Yeah? Anybody got five thousand dollars?" she looked around the library, searching for the imaginary cash cow… which coincidently decided to pop up out of nowhere – in the guise of Cordelia.

The brunette approached the younger watcher, "I have something important to ask you," she started with a smile.

"Important? Let's start calculating those odds, people," Xander snarled at his ex-girlfriend's declaration.

Ignoring his remark, she gave her attention to Wesley again, "What are you doing tomorrow night?" Of short notice and very much unexpected for the watcher, probably, but today was the first day that she had seen him for days.

"Uh, I, uh," Wesley stammered, preparing for his finagled explanation, "as always my sacred duty as a Watcher prevents me from, ah...," Giles looked at him expectantly, waiting for whatever may come. Wesley caught the look, of course, "Why?"

Glad that Wesley didn't turn her down right there and then, Cordy continued, "I have a paper to write for English and, uh… _you're_ English, so I thought...," seeing the skeptical looks of Buffy and Xander, she snapped, "What? Is it so wrong to be getting an insider's perspective?" Refocusing on Wesley, she added, "I study best in a good restaurant, around eight-ish? Think it over?"

Wesley opened and closed his mouth in short intervals, wrecking his brain for a possible reply… a reply that seemed to be out of reach right this moment.

Cordelia exited, but not before letting her posture demonstrate that she really meant it.

"And on the day the words 'flimsy excuse' were redefined, we stood in awe and watched," Xander stated amused.

"Right! Books of Ascension, Mayor, slaughter," Wesley wrung his hands and tried to concentrate on the problem at hand. "Tell you what. Why don't we try to find this demon sooner rather than later? Perhaps persuade him to lend us the books free of charge."

"I think Faith might be useful in that persuasion part," Buffy replied.

"Hm, I imagine so," the young watcher countered with a smug smile, "Where is Faith, anyway?"

"Present," the quintet was startled when they heard the low female voice from the doors that Cordelia had exited seconds ago. Giles was surprised – it was shortly after 1 pm, Faith had kept her word.

The brunette walked over to the counter and dumped an apparently quite heavy backpack on it. "What's up with CC? She seemed pretty happy with herself," she pointed over her shoulder with her thumb. "She even said 'hi' to me!" she said this, like it was the most shocking revelation ever. But considering the usual encounters of the two brunettes…it probably was.

"She just convinced Wesley to do the homework for her," Xander grinned, with a wink that hopefully portrayed what he really meant.

Faith, being her, of course, understood the implication, "Hm, and what's that? Something biological?" she smirked.

Wesley did his best to stop the blush from appearing on his face; Giles watched amused.

"Well, since you're here now," Buffy started, getting up from her chair, "ready to track down this demon?"

But before Faith could reply and tell them that tracking down the demon wouldn't be necessary anymore, the younger watcher chimed in, happy to be able to focus on the matter at hand again, "Y-Yes, very…very good. First we need to find out where he resides. If these books are important as he says, he has good reason to hide. Finding him is going to be extremely difficult."

"Hey…," Faith started, trying to get their attention.

"I think we'll go to Willy's first, find out if he knows anything," Buffy offered, apparently not having heard Faith.

"Alright, good plan," Wesley concurred.

"Guys, can I…," Faith tried again. She felt propelled back into last week's 'I-got-kicked-out' situation, what with everyone talking and deciding over her head.

"Though I think you should call us once you found anything," Giles continued, "or inform Angel in some way."

Faith sighed, for several reasons, but only Willow and Xander, who were still sitting at the table, seemed to notice.

"In this case strength in numbers is probably the safest option; we don't want anything to happen," the older watcher finished his thought.

"Okay," Buffy replied, half turning to the doors to leave. On second thought, she headed towards the bookcase, "Oh, almost forgot. Weapons."

"B, it's okay, I already got…," and suddenly Faith had the attention that she had wanted, only now she got meek, "…the books…," she continued, observing the others' reactions carefully.

Xander's jaw dropped and was now practically resting in his lap; Willow blanched visibly, and Faith just knew that there must be some horrible 'How-Faith-got-hold-of-the-books' scenarios running through the redhead's brain.

Buffy elicited an "Oh," that sounded almost disappointed.

Giles finally understood why Faith had called and told him that she'd come later; however, this did nothing to diminish the worried expression that had appeared on his face upon hearing what the slayer had been up to. "Faith, this would have been a job for the both of you," he scolded her, mildly though, the relief upon seeing that the brunette seemed to be physically okay, outweighed this.

Wesley, on the other hand, seemed slightly more enraged. "I don't understand what you've been thinking. You could have…you could have gone and gotten yourself killed. Without informing me!"

_I appreciate the sentiment_, Faith shrugged, but didn't utter her sarcasm out loud.

Buffy had to fight back a scoff upon hearing Wesley's words; the guy couldn't even express concern properly. "What he wanted to say – you should've waited for me," Buffy translated, basically repeating Giles's thought.

"Sorry," Faith replied wholeheartedly. "But I-I thought the earlier the better, you know? And I didn't want to drag you out of class… again," Giles looked Buffy surprised when he heard this, "cuz, you know…Well, anyway, I knew where to go to get the address info – Willy's – and then I looked up the demon. I guess you could call it a sneak attack, and, well…here we are – me and the books…," she went on and on, Buffy started to grin amused, "I mean, it's not like anyone would think that I'm walking around with the Books of whatnot in broad daylight, so I guess I was pretty safe...and…"

Buffy chuckled, "Okay, okay, apology accepted, Miss Babble Queen," the blonde finally stopped her fellow slayer and neared the counter, "you definitely spend too much time with Will."

Xander chuckled, remembering that he had thought almost the same thing during their broom closet encounter last week, Willow smiled due to the reference, for once not trying to shrink back in her chair. _'Too much time?' Never!_ she thought to herself, her eyes conveying her thought to Faith. The dark slayer grinned upon seeing the redhead's look.

Giles observed the interaction between them, but kept his thoughts to himself.

Buffy grabbed the back pack and brought it over to the table, Faith following at her feels.

"Well, now that they're here, we can at least unpack them, huh?"

"So, how'd you do it, Faith?" Willow asked, "Did you…you know…?" Between coming home and… 'handling', they had talked about the little demon that would most likely fall over dead, if one _really _startled him, for example with holding a knife to his throat.

"Nah, the demon's still alive," the brunette replied quickly, "I paid him."

"What?!?" five people yelped at once.

"Calm down! You never heard of funny money?"

"Okay, I'm not even sure I want to know what you're up to when none of us are around to supervise you…," Buffy sighed exasperated and unzipped the back pack.

"The only real thing I gave him was the bus ticket to L.A.; I'd say he's probably gone by now," Faith continued, helping Buffy to lay out the books on the table. "Never coming back."

"Can we start at the beginning?" Xander opened his mouth, "I want to hear the _entire_ story," he smirked.

* * *

In the following minutes, Faith told them all about her today's mission. About floppy eared demons with big, big hearts – metaphorically speaking, Kitten Poker – not metaphorically speaking, a vampire that was still owing her a favor…and had contacts to money copiers …and a demon that had been gullible enough to accept her fake money without even checking – thank God, Faith would have hated to kill the little guy.

After some hours of researching and taking a closer look at the books, Giles…no, Wesley, of course, sent the gang home for the weekend, the slumber party weekend, to which the watchers weren't invited as a matter of course.

Giles already knew that he would spend the weekend with his nose in the books; Wesley was seriously thinking about canceling his…p-p-private lessons with Cordelia, just to do the same.

* * *

Faith stored her knife in her bureau again, right there, where all the other 'dangerous' weapons lived. She walked over to her bedside table to check up on her magic shop purchase; just when she had opened its drawer enough to peek in, she heard Willow walk into her room.

"Hey, Reddie," she pushed the drawer shut with a swing of her hip and faced her girlfriend.

Willow had been unusually quiet on their home, lost in her thoughts. It must have dawned on her, what being in a relationship with a slayer – especially a dark-haired-always-in-for-some-action kind of slayer – could mean. An ever-present fear that something might happen.

The redhead had her arms crossed over her chest and simply looked at her pensively.

"Okay, if you wanna lecture me, go ahead. I guess I deserve it," Faith threw her arms in the air, knowing that she would be equally worried, if _she herself_ was her girlfriend and had to hear about _her_ perilous behavior.

"No, no lecturing," Willow started and unfolded her arms slowly. She walked over, sat down on Faith's bed and looked at her girlfriend.

Faith returned the look, still waiting for Reddie to go on; she knew that the redhead had more to say than just that; she had – as Buffy would call it – her 'but'-face on.

"But…," there it was, "I want you to be more careful," Willow took Faith's hand and made her sit down as well, "okay?"

"Nothing happened, sweetie," Faith played down her behavior. She knew that anybody who heard of her recent adventure would tend to consider it reckless, no matter how hard she tried to convince them that her mission was harmless. Though Faith herself had to admit that she had been pretty damn lucky.

"That's not good enough." A true statement.

"I know," Faith replied and bit her lips when she saw the tears what were creeping into Willow's eyes.

"I can't promise you anything," the brunette started slowly and noticed the redhead getting more desperate with every second, "but I'll do whatever I can, okay?" she squeezed her girlfriend's hand, "You don't have to worry about me."

"I don't wanna lose you." She would have never picked up on the reply, if it wasn't for her slayer hearing.

The tears came and Faith hastened to pull Willow into her arms, embracing her as tightly as possible without hurting her in any way.

Willow's words resounded in her head. 'I don't wanna lose you.' Never in her life had someone cared about her enough to say something like that to her, and this thought made her happy and sad at the same time.

"You'll never lose me. I'm like a tiny little freckle on your skin, you know. Once it's there, it's there to stay," she hoped to lighten Willow's mood a little with that reference.

And, indeed, Willow chuckled a little. "Sometimes they're annoying, you know. Some of them seem to have a mind of their own," she pressed her hands into Faith's sides, hoping that she'd understand the comparison.

"True. But that's what makes them lovable. Would be boring otherwise, right?"

Willow didn't reply to this and consequently Faith lifted her head to look at her. The tears were still there and Faith wiped them off with her thumb. She gazed her lover's face, their eyes finally locking. She sighed, "I love you, Willow Rosenberg."

Willow couldn't find the words to respond to this, thanks to the lump in her throat, but she knew that she didn't have to. The way Faith looked at her meant that the other girl knew that she was feeling the same. She loved Faith – despite the apparent quirks.

"And I love that you care about me enough to actually tell me something like this," she continued. "And if it don't makes you worry so much, then I'll be just happy to be the most rebelliously-obedient freckle you've ever seen," One last peace-offering from Faith, who kissed Willow on the cheek.

"Dumbass," the redhead grinned and nuzzled her cheek against the brunette's. Faith simply chuckled and held on tighter.

_to be continued..._

_

* * *

_**"Annoyncement": **Unfortunately there'll be a slight change in updating plans now, because "my so called life" (no, no the series) is starting to get in the way. From now on, we'll have a "one chapter every two weeks" deal going, okay? Don't worry, it'll only be this way until I've managed to beat that life down with a big, heavy troll hammer; then we'll go back to the old schedule. I figured this is better than keeping up my beloved one-chapter-per-week-schedule and then eventually running out of chapters, because I don't have enough time to write them; because this then might result in no updates on the story for months, and I personally don't want that to happen. So, I hope nobody is too sad/miffed/angry/annoyed that I have to do this. _**Hang in there, guys, I love you all. Thanks for your great support. **_And I swear by everything that is holy to me, which is my DVD/VHS collection, including all Buffy- and Angel-seasons and nearly complete Eliza Dushku- and Aly Hannigan-DVD-and-VHS-collections (I do own some weird movies because of those two), that this story will have its proper and deserved end. I'm not so not letting it die :)


	36. Come as you aren't

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended! Parts of dialogues taken from the episode "Enemies". No copyright infringement intended either ;)  
**Schedule:** New schedule planny thing going on... more info after this chapter  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

* * *

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX --- COME AS YOU ARE(N'T)

Joyce heard a knock on the front door and went to answer it. When she did, she saw a brunette and a redhead standing on her porch, smiling.

"Willow, Faith, come in," she smiled in return and made room for them to enter.

"Hi, Mrs. Summers," they greeted perfectly in sync.

Joyce closed the door behind the girls, just as Faith put the backpack that she was carrying down on the living room floor. She noticed how small the bag was. Since Faith was the only one of the girls wearing one, she wondered how they could have fit everything they needed for tonight's big sleepover in it.

Meanwhile, Willow had taken off her jacket and felt it being pulled out of her grip by a possessive brunette's hand. She knew this game well by now – Faith always wanting to hang up her jacket for her and taking it down again, helping her into her jacket and out of it – as often as possible. It was a cavalier-y behavior that Willow couldn't drive out of her girlfriend yet. Not that she was really planning on doing so; it was way too cute to be annoying.

Joyce saw the wordless interaction between the girls and smiled. She waited 'til Faith was done with hanging up her and Willow's jackets and led them into the kitchen. "Would you like some cocoa?"

"Yeah, thanks," Willow answered for both of them. As she walked by the table in the dining room that had already been laid, she asked, "Do you need any more help? With the cooking or anything?"

"No, that's okay, thanks. I'm almost done," Joyce countered, entering the kitchen and walking over to the cupboard to retrieve three mugs for the cocoa.

"So, where's B at?" Faith asked, hopping on one of the stools at the kitchen counter, seating herself next to Will. "She not…," she stopped mid-sentence to snatch a slice of red capsicum from a nicely arranged plate of capsicum, tomato, cucumber and other veggies that Joyce had prepared. She almost dropped her food item when Willow slapped her hand in an admonishing gesture, "…ouch…here yet?" she grinned and held her booty up for Willow to see.

Upon turning around and seeing Faith munching down on the vegetable, Joyce scrunched her eyebrows slightly. She put the mugs on the counter and explained, "No, she went out on a quick patrol and said she was going to pick up Xander, once she was done…," Joyce rearranged the fairly messed-up plate quickly, before going over to the fridge to start on the cocoa.

"Okay," Faith replied. Done with her snack, she sent a sneaking glance in the direction of the plate… however, didn't move a finger-y muscle, not only because Willow had covered her hand with hers, stopping it from doing any more naughty things.

Since Joyce had her head temporarily buried in the depths of the fridge, she didn't notice this interaction. She produced a box of milk and closed the door behind her. "So…uh, anyway, are you two getting along? I guess living together can be difficult when you're…," she stopped, choosing her words wisely. She knew they hadn't basically been living alone voluntarily, "…not necessarily used to it."

The lovers didn't know how often they had heard this question throughout the last week, but it wasn't annoying… at least not yet.

"Oh, we're totally cool," Faith replied, watching as Joyce retrieved a pack of cocoa from the cupboard and gave a bit of it in a jug.

"But… I'm parenting her _just_ a _little_ bit," Willow added. "Like slap her paw when it pinches something from a neatly arranged plate without permission and stuff," Willow grinned and made Joyce chuckle.

For this, she received a pouting look from Faith. "Well, _someone _has to…," she returned the pout and squeezed the hand under the table a little.

"Speaking of…," Mom started, pouring some milk into the jug, putting this one in the microwave and pushing a sequence of buttons. "Buffy told me about what you did yesterday, Faith."

"What did I do?" Faith replied.

"You know what…," Willow added slowly. She knew that Faith was trying to play out her innocent, ignorant little girl card.

"Oh, that…," the brunette sighed. _Please not another lecture…though yesterday I didn't even really get one, so maybe today's the day…_

"Be more careful…okay?" the blonde simply stated and Faith was surprised. Not even the most mom-like mom of her 'moms' did seem to live up to her name.

Her Giles-mom had cut her some mayor slack yesterday, her Buffy-mom had been more disappointed for not being able to go on the mission herself – but at least she hadn't lectured her; her most favorite of her moms – her Willow-mom – had been a fairly tough nut to crack, but eventually she had been able to convince her of her promise to be more careful in the future.

From Joyce's warning and anxious look, she judged that this one fell somewhere around the Giles-category. Faith didn't care how many people claimed the position as un-official Faith-mom right now, at least they made up for the one mom that hadn't cared.

Willow-mom tugged on her hand and made her face her. "You…you'll listen to_ her_, right?" the redhead sounded fairly desperate and Faith could see a trace of tears in the big green eyes.

Joyce noticed it too and now also the touching between the girls. This wasn't really a surprise since Willow was cradling the brunette's hand in her lap by now.

"Promise," Faith replied fully determined and altered between looking at the women.

Willow nodded slightly; she wanted to get as much assurance from Faith as she could get, because she didn't trust the self-proclaimed 'rebel' one hundred per cent, despite or even because of her yesterday's speech.

"And even if I don't… let's just say, I give you all full permission to kick my then possibly de…," she changed her wording in the last millisecond, "…demolished ass."

As on cue, they hear the front door open and Xander and Buffy come in. Any probable replies to this remark would have to wait 'til later.

* * *

After the three 'girls' had drank up their cocoas and had put the intact-again plate of veggies plus other food items on the table, the group, now consisting of five members, sat down for dinner.

At some point, the discussion came to the Willow and Oz sitch that was still confusing Buffy to some extent.

She had seen them dancing at the Bronze but until now hadn't found the time to talk to Willow about it. Joyce, Xander and Faith listened attentively to anything that the redhead had to say. Joyce, because she wanted to collect as much evidence as possible, really not wanting to jump to any wrong conclusions; Xander, because he remembered the conversation that he and Faith had had, in which she told him about her feeling that those two would never get back together; and Faith…well, because she carefully listened to everything that Willow had to say, anyway.

Willow explained that they were right in the middle of going back to being friends and that the chance of them coupling up again was minimal.

Faith was the only one that had to play her surprise upon hearing the reply… well, one could also count Joyce, but she didn't even try to fake surprise since no one was paying attention to her as it was.

But then all attention turned towards her when she was told about the really new 'couple' of the group – Xander and Faith.

After a confused stare from her side and a grin on every single one of the others' faces, she was filled in on the little scheme that Faith had cooked up to keep Percy off her back. One more clue in the Willow and Faith riddle that Joyce was trying to solve.

* * *

After they were done with dinner, they split up for a moment. Willow helped Joyce with the washing up, and Xander and Buffy spent some time showing Faith something that this one had asked about last week.

However, after a few minutes, Xander excused himself to go to the bathroom, while Buffy went into the kitchen to get some snacks.

Suddenly…

"Holy Jesus, sweet motherfucker!" the occupants of the house heard someone yell from the living room. It was an exclamation that was somewhere between a surprised squeak and a disbelieving yelp.

The only person there at the moment – Faith.

Willow was the first to arrive at the living room entrance, being as how she had been closest to it to begin with – and probably the most worried. All sorts of horrible scenarios were shooting through her brain about what had just happened to Faith. That she had hurt herself somehow, that some ghoulish demon had popped up out of the blue and attacked her…

She came in with angst written across her face, but what she saw confused her somehow.

The slayer was sitting on the couch, nothing appeared to be wrong…if it wasn't for Faith's wide open mouth and the even wider eyes that were intently staring at a picture she was holding in her hands.

"Faith?" she asked, and upon hearing her name uttered by her girlfriend, Faith's open mouth formed a tongue-y, teeth-involving grin as she slowly turned to face her.

However, before Willow could ask her about it or Faith could comment on her find, Xander appeared at the foot of the stairs and almost bumped into Willow.

Faith saw this and raised an eyebrow. Only now it dawned on her that _every _inhabitant of this house must have heard her. And as on cue Buffy met them seconds later and Faith cleared her throat. But Joyce's arrival embarrassed her the most, and she blushed an interesting shade of red. She quickly averted her eyes. "Sorry…" she apologized for her potty-mouth-attack – which she felt especially bad for since Joyce had witnessed it as well.

But the older blonde simply smiled kindly.

"So, you wanna tell us what brought on the outburst?" Buffy asked with raised eyebrows.

"Oh, right," Faith held up her brand-new discovery for everyone to see… and Willow immediately wished that the earth would swallow her right there and then.

In Faith's hands was a photo. Of Willow… or maybe not, Faith wasn't entirely sure. The girl on the pic was wearing relatively high-heeled boots, a black pantyhose, a short, black leather skirt that barely reached the mid of her thighs, a red shirt with remarkable cleavage that left the perfectly shaped abs that Faith knew so well by now uncovered. The girl's hair was done up and the face covered with more make-up than the redhead usually wore.

Faith had found the picture in the depths of Buffy's giant photo album, which, if one considered _some_ of the pics could also be called 'B's Big Book of Badassly emBarrassing …uh, Bictures'…at least this was probably approximately the idea that was shooting through Willow's brain right now. She told herself that she should have known that showing Faith the album was a bad idea.

"So, what's this about? Vamp Willow? I thought vamps don't show up on photos," Faith looked at her friends, and especially the redhead in question, expectantly.

"Well, yeah, _Vamp_ Willow," Buffy grinned and nudged the redheaded girl, whose cheek matched the color of her hair more with every second that passed.

"But not the vampire-y kind," Xander added…little helpful for Faith's taste. She looked confused.

"'Splainy'?" Buffy ventured, seeing Faith's lips move in an unsuccessful attempt to form words.

"Yeah, that!" the brunette nodded vigorously and with a raised eyebrow motioned for Willow and the rest of them to come closer and finally get down to it.

Xander walked up behind his redheaded friend, put his hands on her shoulders and made her walk over to the couch. Faith patted the cushion beside her and waited for her girlfriend to sit down. Xander took the seat on the other end of the couch, while Buffy sat down in the chair, facing them. Joyce went back into the kitchen to work some more.

"So?" the brunette asked, looking at each of them, but mostly at Willow.

"It was Buffy's fault!" the little witch blurted, trying to pull the hemline of the imaginary leather skirt into a proper and un-provocative position, well over her knees.

Xander and Faith observed her behavior amused, while Buffy switched into defensive mode. "It wasn't my…," seeing two pairs of knowing eyes on her, she changed her mind, "okay, yeah… Anyway, it happened on Halloween last year," Buffy started the explanation. "Some mojo happened, turned almost everyone into their costumes."

"I got to be a soldier," Xander chest practically swelled with pride when he let Faith in on this secret.

"Very cool," this one replied, not even bothering to find out more about the 'mojo' that was used. She has seen enough in her day to accept things like that without asking twice.

Buffy turned the page of the Album to reveal a group picture of her, Xander, Willow and Cordelia. "Angel took it when the whole drama was over."

"Oh, Cordelia was the only one of us that _didn't_ change, by the way," Xander remarked, looking at his ex-girlfriend in her cat unitard.

"Well, Catwoman would have been the least favorite thing on my list," Buffy remarked, obviously not really arousing Faith's interest, since this one was studying the picture intently. Willow sat by her side, doing the same. At least this was a way to diminish her blush – averted attention.

"Not bad, B," Faith commented the blonde's seventeenth-century-lady outfit. "Maybe a little too…," she tried to demonstrate with her hands held away from her hips, what she meant to say, "…you know…bulgy… for my taste…"

"For Angel's too. I would've dressed up as something else, if I'd known this earlier," she still got that pouty expression on her face whenever she thought back at her own personal costume-disaster.

"Some kind of super heroine wouldn't have been bad in this situation," Willow added, the reason for why they were actually sitting here happily ignored... temporarily. The gang laughed at this and Willow changed her reply, "other super heroine, maybe. Come to think of it, you shouldn't have worn anything at all. That would have probably been best." Two brunettes looked at her surprised and a blonde cleared her throat. "Oh! I didn't mean…like…okay, shutting up now…," she blushed.

"No, no, no – no shutting up now," Faith countered, "you still have to tell me as what you dressed up here," Faith pointed with her finger to the photos.

"I was a ghost… but that's another story," _Great, from one embarrassing situation into the next and back into the first one again…_

"Uh…huh…," Faith drew out the sounds. "The ghost of what? A Dollhouse stripper?" Giles had asked the redhead almost the same thing, just without the Dollhouse stripper reference… he probably didn't even know of something called the Dollhouse. Xander momentarily wondered, how Faith knew…He knew that that kind of "Dollhouse" also existed… Not just the little house girls and their dolls play with.

Willow glared at Buffy, the originator of this look. The blonde caused it, and therefore should think how of a way out of this situation now.

"I guess that look means she wants you to answer, B," Faith laughed and addressed her fellow slayer, though never taking her eyes off her girlfriend. Knowing her Willow, she had a pretty good feeling that this one, right this moment, was torn between two options: burying her face in a pillow or alternatively hiding it behind her or even Faith's hair, and causing Buffy some serious pain, even if not physically. She had to fight the urge to take Willow into her arms and comfort her, despite the cuteness of the moment and the fact that… the outfit on the pic was somewhat appealing to her.

"It was a…sort of…," Buffy chose her words carefully, Willow's angry eyes still on her, "well…Halloween – 'Come as you aren't' – you know. And that's why I talked her into… you know… wearing… that… because I know that you normally wouldn't. But I actually thought it looked good on you," she shrugged.

_Hear, hear!_

_Hear, hear!!!_

"But you didn't, did you?" Faith asked her redhead gently.

"Well, at first, no," Willow confirmed and blushed again, "I felt totally embarrassed. A-And that's why I… you know, originally I bought another costume…"

Faith sucked in a breath of air, as the last piece of the puzzle finally found its appropriate place. "Ah…I get it, you covered it up it up with a ghost costume." She deliberately avoided the words 'hid underneath', since this aimed at a negativity of the situation that she didn't really feel upon learning this.

Willow simply nodded, torn between sinking deeper into the couch cushions and returning the soft smile that Faith was giving her.

"You know what?" Faith moved closer to the girl, whose cuteness grew with every second, and put an arm over her shoulder, "I would've done that too," she whispered into the redhead's ear, loud enough for the others to hear it as well.

Xander and Buffy knew that she was lying and consequently started to laugh. And Faith knew that even Willow knew this, though the redhead seemed to appreciate the thought, anyway.

"Though I gotta say," the brunette continued and Willow almost squealed in shock when she suddenly felt a Faith-y hand on her tummy, "I really envy that abs."

Affectionate behavior in front of the others. Willow still wasn't sure if she was comfortable with this or not. But before she could even make up her mind, the 'behavior' was gone and Faith sat next to her as if nothing had happened.

Luckily, Buffy and Xander didn't really seem to mind; they observed this without any second thoughts…although… "Looks like you got an admirer there, Will," Xander remarked jokingly, checking if Buffy got the same impression. The blonde's grin seemed to confirm this.

Faith shrugged, not trying to convince them otherwise. There was no need to deny this; admiration didn't necessarily equal 'Damn, I'm _so very _into that girl!' and therefore she thought herself and Willow safe.

Willow was surprisingly calm. Maybe it was the warm hand that was resting near her own. Maybe it was the fact that she couldn't detect any suspiciousness in her friends' attitude.

"But I don't even think _you_'ll get her to wear anything leather-y or provocative anymore," Buffy continued the game, addressing Faith. "Or talk her into any other kind of kink. She's not the kinky type."

Just when Willow thought the high point of embarrassment had been reached, Buffy had to blurt out _that _comment. Knowing no other way out, she leaned forth and buried her beet red face in her hands.

"Awww…," Faith put her arms around Willow protectively, though she could also see some fun in Buffy's statement. _You'd be surprised…_meandered through her brain, as she remembered some of their nightly and/or early morning-ly encounters – and especially some of the naughty comments the mouth of the little redhead had produced on those occasions.

Willow leaned in closer to Faith, calming down, hoping that she had had her fill of embarrassing and awkward moments for tonight. She had no idea that the worst part was still to come.

_to be continued..._

* * *

**A/N #1:** Hey, guys, thanks for being so understanding, I really appreciate it. Oh, and of course - as always - I hope you enjoyed the read ;)

**A/N #2: **And, duh, I had to have a -somewhat-of-a- Dollhouse reference the first chance I got... even though it's not really about the series *lol*. The Dollhouse I was refering to here is a strip club in Hamburg, but there are a lot of similar Dollhouses all over the world... I think. Google says so ;)


	37. Mind Games

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended! Parts of dialogues taken from the episode "Enemies". No copyright infringement intended either ;)  
**Schedule:** New schedule planny thing going on... more info after this chapter  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

**A/N #1: **I never really liked this chapter, but, oh, well, here it is :)

**A/N #2: **And I've never played this game myself, so... hehe... be gentle... :P

* * *

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN --- MIND GAMES

The following hours were spent with playing some of the typical teens-having-a-sleepover-games – Twenty Questions, Taboo and Trivial Pursuit, where they pitted slayers against Slayerettes and which resulted in a close win for the slayers, surprisingly…

Meanwhile, Joyce worked on some inventory lists in the kitchen, not letting herself be distracted by the kids in the living room.

Right now, they were playing Truth or Dare.

Already well into the game, it was Buffy's turn to quiz Xander, who, like most of them preferred the 'truth'-part of this game, and the blonde thought hard and finally came up with something that had been on her mind for a very long time. "Okay…is there really nothing that you remember about the time when you were possessed by a hyena?"

Faith scrunched her eyebrows in question and surprise, and earned a, "Don't ask," from Willow.

"Yeah, no, I don't remember a single thing…," Xander replied, hoping to sound convincing enough, "okay, I remember what you told me about the pig and that the other guys basically…," he noticed Buffy's disbelieving look, "…ate Principal…," he noticed the same look on Willow. He had accidentally spilled the beans in earlier talks and knew that this didn't go unnoticed by the girls. Sighing, he changed his statement, "Yes. Yes, I remember."

"This means, you also remember ambushing me in Herbert's room." Xander just nodded, awaiting further questions Buffy had in mind.

"Okay, my question…did you really mean what you were saying and…well, doing?" she finally asked him.

He knew that technically this question didn't count anymore, since Buffy had already had her one allowed question. But right now he didn't feel like dodging it, no matter how uncomfortable answering the question would make him.

Willow was surprised that _Buffy _of all people would address this subject. Faith had no idea what they were talking about; she didn't have Willow's advantage of having been filled in by Buffy after the event.

"Um…," he started, scratching his chin, "well, yes, I did. Though…I never would have expressed it _that_ way in my normal state. You know that…right…?" he inquired, unsure about what exactly she wanted to hear.

Did she really want to hear that he was, or still _is_, interested in her? Or was this what she absolutely didn't want to hear?

But when she simply nodded her 'okay' and smiled, he sighed in relief.

Willow and Faith observed the situation curiously. Right now, the brunette didn't feel like asking them what had happened, though her imagination worked pretty good for her.

After a few moments, she nodded, encouraging him to choose the next victim.

"Um…Will, truth or dare?" he chose his best friend since kindergarten.

"Truth," the little redhead replied instantly. She rarely picked 'dare'; for her the 'truth' option always seemed to be the easier one. _As long as it's not about recent developments, that is…I mean, not that I'm trying to hide 'me and Faith'…it's just that…Hey, why am I making excuses for myself…to myself…?_

Xander's mind was rotating around a possible question, meanwhile. "Okay, how far have you gotten with Oz before you broke up?"

"Oh…," she started, and seeing Faith's curious expression, with raised eyebrows and everything, made her grin despite herself, "well…not that far, actually. We…he…," she looked at the expectant faces of her friends, "well, he always said that he wanted to wait till I was ready for more… but I never really had the courage to tell him that I actually was… you know… Except for that one time, maybe… so, we've never really done more than…"

"So, no more than kissing and light groping?" Faith asked, though she approximately knew how far the redheads had gotten. She still had trouble understanding what that guy had been thinking or _not _been thinking; simply looking at Willow made her all woozy. But on the other hand, she could also see how he didn't want to force her into doing something that she might not have been ready for.

"That… Yeah, that's about it," Willow replied, putting Faith's words into mental images. "Okay, I'm up. Buffy, truth or dare?"

"Truth," the blonde countered quickly.

"How many relationships have you had?"

When Buffy didn't answer for a longer period of time, but looked about pensively, Xander grinned, "_That_ many, huh?"

"My exact thought," Faith chimed in and Willow nodded in agreement.

Buffy ignored her high-fiving friends. "No…just thinking about how exactly you define 'relationship'…," she pondered.

"Okay…How many guys have you had?" Faith changed the question for him and grinned mischievously, the provocative undertone intended.

"Ah, jeez," Buffy sighed exasperated and felt the other slayer's hand slapping her thigh. "Okay, _relationships_!" she stressed the word on purpose. "Let's see…well, there was Tyler when I was a sophomore, and that didn't even have Will and Oz dimensions," she compared it to what Willow had just told them. "Then…well, Owen…nah, don't think he counts. Neither Cam or Tom," she shuddered when she thought about them, especially the later one. "But Angel; I guess that was the first real thing."

"Mmm, you could say that!" Faith mumbled, chomping down on her popcorn. An admonishing redheaded witch's elbow in her side made her laugh.

"Anyway," Buffy ignored the little barney between the girls, "then there was Scott…"

_Sleazebag! He so had it coming!_

_Jerk…though I liked him, I have to admit…_

_Only an idiot would dump a girl like her…_

_Oh, well_, "and now there is Angel again, and that's about it," Buffy ended her explanations.

"As long as he keeps his parts to himself…," Faith gave her a look that was somewhere between warning and amusement. Warning – because she knew what would happen in that case; amusement – since she still wasn't over B and Soulboy and their X-rated movie adventure.

"We're working on that," Buffy replied and didn't even blush saying it. "Okay, my turn, _Faithie_," she said with a gleam in her eyes.

"Right, truth," the brunette nodded.

Buffy thought hard about what she could quiz her on…_Gotta be something…oh, speaking of 'keeping one's parts to oneself'_. "Have you ever had sex with a girl?" Buffy asked her fellow slayer. Right next to her, Xander didn't even try to keep a faint leer out of his expression upon hearing this.

"Yep," Faith replied without thinking twice. To her, this seemed to be an open secret, anyway. Willow knew about it, even though she had never explicitly told her – the reason for Willow's not-freaking upon hearing Buffy's question.

"Care to elaborate?" Xander prodded.

"Nope," she countered, answering as quickly as she had seconds ago. Reaching into the bowl of popcorn, she noticed Xander's disappointed look. "Just gonna say that it's different than with guys – in a good way," she offered and winked at her seven-minutes-sexual partner playfully. _If he really wants to know…_

Xander understood the side blow but ignored it; the other stuff was way more interesting. "So, you do this a lot?"

"Okay, first, we're not playing 20 questions anymore, buddy. And, second, it wasn't even your turn asking me," Faith grinned.

"Fine," the male brunette replied, already planning to… maybe… quiz Faith more on that matter the next chance he got. Or maybe not; he didn't wanna risk getting smacked.

"Hm…," Faith decided whom of her friends to pick next and turned toward her girlfriend, "Reddie!" she grinned, "Truth or dare?"

"Truth," Willow replied automatically, though she knew that Faith would never dare her to do anything embarrassing or nasty on purpose, she still preferred 'truth' – it was kind of a habit. She just hoped that the not embarrassing or nasty criterion would also apply to the 'truth' category.

Faith thought for a second, trying to come up with something that she didn't know yet. "Oh! Who was your first kiss?"

Willow relaxed instantly; this was an easy thing to answer. The others were surprised, though; they noticed that Faith seemed to cut the redhead some extra slack, since her questions were usually much more challenging. "Okay, the first real one was Oz," Willow started, _though the first really really real one was you…,_ she smirked at Faith, thinking about the night that had started all this. The slayer understood the look. "But I think there was also something with Jonathan in kindergarten…," she thought hard, trying to remember the exact event. Shrugging, she finished "Guess it doesn't count, anyway."

"Wait. That short guy from school?" Faith grinned, just trying to imagine the two of them together. Xander had no imagining to do, being as how he had been there.

"Well, he wasn't that short, then…no, wait," Willow frowned." I mean, I was short too, but…you know what I mean…"

"Size didn't matter, huh?" Faith muttered, very dryly, joking. Xander almost spit out the gulp of coke he had just inhaled, while the other girls started laughing.

"Anyway, Will's up," Buffy announced.

"Okay, um…Xand, truth or dare?"

"Truth," the man replied.

Willow thought for a bit, and eventually came back to a topic that Buffy had addressed earlier, "If Buffy would let you kiss her right now, would you do it?"

Buffy pondered if Willow would have made him kiss her, if he had chosen 'dare' and was interested to hear Xander's answer.

Something clicked in Faith's head and thought that she had maybe finally understood what the others had been talking about earlier.

Since his attraction for her was an open secret… well, not even a 'secret', per se – since it was common knowledge – Xander felt no need to try to answer with anything but the truth.

"Yes, absolutely," he told them, with the comfortable knowledge in the back of his mind that it would never ever happen anyway.

He didn't really have the hots for her anymore; his mind was mainly on Anya lately. But still…if there was the really real impossible possibility that a kiss between them would happen, then, by golly, he would use his chance. That much he knew.

Buffy sat there, thinking. After a few seconds, she muttered a, "Ah, what the hell," grabbed Xander's face and put a brief and modest kiss square on his lips.

"There, better," she grinned and sat back, reassuming her original position.

_Aiaijauwhoo…_Xander's mind was stuck in a loop. He was staring ahead of him, suppressing the urge to feel his lips with his hand to make sure that _this_ really had happened just now.

"You're up, Xan," he heard one of his girls saying, but for the love of…everything couldn't tell which one it was.

Yeah, 'his girls'. Now Buffy belonged to this club too, the unilateral kiss qualified her…at least, partly. Willow belonged to it just a little it more, leastwise back then, they both knew it was about to happen and both were prepared, despite knowing that what they were doing was wrong. And Faith…she probably belonged into her own club, anyway. Or should get a full member club card.

"I'm think you broke him, B," said brunette smirked, watching in-trance-Xander along with the other girls.

"Right. I'm…it's my... turn," he suddenly snapped out of it. "So…Faith."

"Truth," she replied instantly.

Still a little occupied with his 'his girls' thought, he had an interesting idea. "Oh …have you ever played strip poker…and lost?" he tried a little smirk, already preparing himself for Faith's comments and the possible images that this might create in his mind. Faith and girl-sex could come later; there was still time.

Faith grinned due to his imaginativeness. "Um…yes, I've played it several times," the brunette started. "Lost once. Well, at least, almost – I managed to keep two articles of clothing…," she winked.

Xander's mind raced, thinking about this and the two pieces of clothing. From his apocalyptic-nightishly encounter with her, he knew what she might…or rather, might _not_ be talking about…

_Wait, __two? She normally doesn't wear…Does she mean – no, that would be only __one_ _piece…, _Willow thought, her brain set to the same task as Xander's. _Ah! Got it! ...No, wait…or, yeah. I mean, she usually wears those…but she could also mean…that…and one of those…_, Willow nearly lost it over the sheer variety of possible combinations.

"But – word of advice," Faith continued, "never play that game with a horde of demons. Cuz you never know what exactly you'll get to see then. Most likely…things…you never thought about and can't ever forget for the rest of your life once you've seen them."

"Okay, no details, please," Buffy held up her hands in defense. _God, girl, why do you play __that__ with __them__ and…well, __why__…?_

"Fair enough," Faith agreed wholeheartedly. Willow and Xander simply looked on with a weirded-out expression, and thus her next victim was easily found. "Alright, B, truth or dare?"

"Uh…truth."

_Hm, we should rename that game; call it 'truth or truth', maybe, _Faith thought, remembering the last dozen questions. Not that she didn't have any more questions to ask the others…

"Okay, was it fun getting down and dirty with Soulboy?"

Faith had asked her that question once before and Buffy had dodged it, and therefore the blonde could see how the younger girl saw her big chance right now. "Okay…," she thought for a bit, looking for a possible way for not having to tell the truth, but Faith's stare showed her that this one would detect _any_ lie concerning that subject. "Well, thinking about it about a year later…it wasn't really…pleasant," she stated, not sure if she had chosen the right word.

Three pairs of eyes looked at her, some expectantly, some mildly surprised, but all of them were awaiting further explanations.

"I mean, he was nice and gentle and everything…but also…I mean, until then I had never really noticed how cold he actually is – physically, I mean…and _all_ of him. And that's mostly what I thought about during the entire process…unfortunately. Plus the outcome was…well, you know how it ended, so…not really sure, if I should call it fun…"

"So you wouldn't do it again, if he couldn't lose his soul over it?" Faith asked.

"I didn't say that…," Buffy contradicted with a grin. "I think we'd find a way to make it more…more…"

"'Pleasant'?" Xander offered, picking up her original wording.

"Uh-huh," the blonde replied, already thinking about how they could do that. But until now only heating blankets came to mind. "Oh, well, anyway, I'm up. Okay, Will, truth or dare?"

"Truth," Willow replied yet again.

"You know what? I mean, I've never played this game before, but…," Faith chimed in, "shouldn't we have a 'dare' in here at some point?"

"Fine…Dare," Willow changed her decision, already fretting what might come. She knew that she would most likely make Faith pay, if it was something bad.

Most likely the first chance she got; most likely right after her dare was over. Thinking about the possibilities she had, she almost didn't hear Buffy's dare. "…to kiss…Faith."

"Wait, sorry, what?" Willow squeaked.

"What?" Faith muttered at the same time. She had heard it all. 'I dare you to kiss Faith.' Looking at her girlfriend's shocked expression, she couldn't help but think that maybe she should have kept her blabber shut this time.

It was hard to tell, which of the lovers most qualified as the deer caught in headlights right now. But probably Willow just a little more than Faith. Consequently…"What did you just say?" Willow asked her blonde friend again, trying to figure out if she maybe – hopefully – heard wrong.

"Oh, you heard me," this one replied. "Kiss."

When Willow didn't move for a long time, and Faith sat beside her, looking almost as shocked as the redhead felt, Buffy continued, "Well, come on, guys, it's not that big a deal."

This didn't seem to help, since the girls still hadn't moved one millimeter.

Willow didn't know if she wanted to laugh or to cry, she could hardly handle this situation.

Faith knew more than her Will. She knew that she was in some serious trouble.

To make the matter even worse, Buffy invested herself in some advertising. Addressing Willow, she said, "I mean, just look at those lips – they were made for kissing," she nodded her head in Faith's direction.

Befuddled, the brunette took in Buffy's words, wondering about the girl's mental state and/or attracted-ness towards her… or sexuality even. And she wondered where the blonde's idea had suddenly come from. Maybe she and Will _had _acted a little too lover-y earlier tonight and had put funny thoughts into the blonde's head.

Xander watched the not-interaction between his two friends and decided to have his word in here as well. "Plus, I mean, Will's a pretty good kisser," he prompted Faith to act, since it didn't seem that Willow would be doing anything about it in the near future.

"It's not a big thing," Buffy stated again, rather not stating that she had just done the same with Xander and it didn't bother her.

At first, Faith wanted to yell at them, telling them that they had no idea what they were talking about. They had no idea, how much a kiss really meant to Will. It wasn't just a thing for her to do and then simply move on as if nothing had happened at all.

However, she decided to follow through with her second impulse. Just kiss the girl and end the torture for her. She felt that Willow couldn't handle the expectant stares from the others much longer.

She sat up on her heels and leaned over to Will.

Willow was startled out of her shocked state when she noticed Faith nearing her. She had an idea what Faith was intending to do, saw the softness in her eyes and the tentative movements.

Faith's eyes seemed to whisper, _You don't have to, if you don't want to, honey_; the warm hand on her arm was doing nothing more than holding it, maybe trying to calm her, maybe trying to provoke her into a little peck. Faith knew that this would be enough for the naughty blonde that was sitting three feet away, looking on.

But Willow simply…this was not how Willow had imagined their first kiss witnessed by the Scoobies to be like. The others, minus Faith, only saw this as a game; Willow however, didn't. And the comments from B and X weren't helping her any. This wasn't a 'no-big-deal'-game for her anymore.

She saw Faith's eyes, her lips, felt the stares of the others on them, felt the heated tension in the room and… this was it, she couldn't handle it.

She jumped up, bringing Faith to loose the hold on her arm.

With tears in her eyes, she whispered an, "I can't," and turned around to run up the stairs.

Faith sat. Her hand still in the position, in which she had been holding Willow's arm seconds before. Obviously, her mind wasn't yet processing what had just happened and was still happening.

All she knew was - this is not what she had expected to happen.

_to be continued... _


	38. CuddleMeSome

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** New schedule planny thing going on... more info after this chapter  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

* * *

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT --- CUDDLE-ME-SOME

"Will, wait…," Buffy called after her friend desperately, but only heard a door slam shut a few moments later. She looked at a speechless Xander, who didn't look like he would move any time soon.

She got up to go after the redhead, wanting to see how she could help and what actually caused her reaction, but Faith – finally coming out of her state of shock – stopped her. "Leave it, B," she stood up and cut Buffy's move short with a firm hand on the blonde's chest, "I'll take care of her."

Buffy wanted to say something else, but Faith's warning look made her rethink that action.

"Next time…better think before you ask something like that of her, okay? I thought you knew her," she directed the statement at both of them, since Xander had obviously supported Buffy's dare.

The brunette turned around to walk up the stairs, already dreading whatever she would get to see up there. She wished that she would have had her own words in mind _before _she commented on the fact that there were far too few – or rather, no – 'dares' in their game.

Joyce rounded the corner to the foyer, just in time to see Faith disappearing into the upper hall. Having heard Buffy shout, the door being slammed shut and the last part of Faith's words, she was more than worried. "What happened?"

The friends barely shrugged, really not knowing how to answer this question.

* * *

Faith stopped when she had reached the top of the stairs, listening and looking around. Seconds later, she could make out a soft sobbing noise coming from Buffy's room. This wasn't a surprise – she had expected Willow to go there; the blonde's room was basically her third home, after her own one and the school library. It was some sort of safe harbor for her…or at least it was safer than the living room could be at this point.

She walked up to the door and opened it soundlessly. The light of the hallway pierced through the otherwise unlit darkness of the room. She saw Willow – standing near the window, facing it – reacting to the light, but not turning around.

Faith didn't know if Willow had noticed that it was her or not, and so she approached her as unintrusively and cautious as possible. The sobbing had almost stopped, yet she still saw a faint trembling.

She finally reached her, stood half-behind her and put a hesitant hand on the witch's arm. Faith almost groaned in relief when she felt her girlfriend tugging on her arm, drawing her close.

"Oh, honey…," she mumbled into Willow's shoulder as she wrapped her arms around her protectively. Nothing followed this utterance, and that was okay. There was no need to say anything more.

"Stupid…," her slayer hearing picked up long moments later. She noticed Willow shaking her pretty head and clinging to the hands that were hugging her waist firmly.

Faith misinterpreted the redhead's comment and tried to justify herself. "I'm sorry, Will. If it wasn't for me and my big mouth…"

"Not you," Willow hurried to explain. No thought about 'making Faith pay' for basically talking her into choosing 'dare' was left in her mind. She nestled closer to the slayer, welcoming the comforting arms around her.

"Oh…," Faith murmured, partly relieved, partly thinking who else Willow could be or would be talking about. Buffy and Xander. "They're not, you know. They just... couldn't know," she replied in an attempt to keep her own anger at their friends out of her voice.

Right now she didn't even care if anyone saw them standing here like this – at least this would explain Willow's reaction downstairs to them.

Willow sighed. "I was talking about me."

Faith grimaced; _this _remark came more than unexpected for her. She wasn't sure if she really understood what her girlfriend wanted to say.

She put her hand on Willow's shoulder, putting only minimal pressure behind it, hoping that it would be enough to make the redhead face her.

To her surprise and relief, it worked. Willow turned around and she could see the tear-stained face and the now barely trembling lips.

Willow noticed the questioning-relieved-confused-mellow look on her lover's face. Since she didn't know what else to do about it, she simply pressed her forehead against Faith's and exhaled quietly.

The brunette nestled her right hand against the witch's cheek and caressed the lips with her thumb. With pleasure, she took in how the little one was giving it a soft kiss.

Faith thought about what she should say, if she should ask what Willow meant when she said 'I was talking about me' or not. She was thinking hard, weighing her words and actions carefully.

This was a very new situation for her. This trying to comfort someone, specifically her partner – because even though Willow had calmed down a bit, she was still not looking very happy, understandably.

Faith hoped that she had done well so far. At least, so far Willow hadn't started crying again.

_Well, so far you haven't said much, so it's no wonder she isn't crying… Oh, stop it_! _You can do this. Just don't say anything stupid…_

Suddenly she noticed that Willow had been clutching something in her arms the entire time, holding it as though it would protect her. The brunette questioned why she hadn't seen it sooner, but figured that the fact that she had now at least gave her a relatively save start into a conversation with her girl.

Putting her arm around the witch's shoulders, she reached for the stuffed animal piggy in Willow's hands. Willingly, the redhead let her take and inspect it.

Faith looked at the cute thing and smiled faintly. "Now, who is this?" she started slowly, "Pigglesworth, Piglet, or something?"

"That's Mr. Gordo," Willow informed her and looked at her briefly with the hint of a smile.

"Hm." Faith raised her eyebrows, wondering since when B spoke Spanish. Because the name sounded awfully Spanish to her, even though she had no idea what it meant. "So…is he your friend?" _Um…slayer…what are you trying to do…?_

Willow tilted her head looking at the pig. Right this moment, she was wondering the same thing. But playing along, she nodded.

"Mmmm, ruff ruff," Faith muttered and made a move to make the piggy walk up Willow's chest.

Willow laughed. "Why is he barking?"

"Well, I don't know…never learned to 'oink', I guess," Faith's face formed a pensive expression. "But at least you're smiling again, so, good on him."

The redhead reached for the stuffed animal again, but stopped when she heard a 'grrr'-ing sound, supposedly coming from the piggy, though she knew that it actually came from her girlfriend.

"Weirdo," she grinned, grabbed the pig, anyway, and lay it down on the nearby bed.

Still impersonating the Mr. Gordo-dog, the brunette whined softly, imitating dog-piggy's feelings of being left out and the lack of Willow-y body warmth.

However, Willow wasn't as mean as to refuse exactly that to both of them. And thus she pulled Faith into a tight hug, which lasted for a few moments.

"You know that I'm stupid, right?" the redhead finally mumbled into the crook of Faith's neck, still not letting go of her.

"Well…'stupid'…isn't what I'd call you, you know…" she prodded, encouraging Will to explain what she was really referring to. She caressed Willow's red hair and waited.

"Oh, please…," the witch raised her head and looked at the brunette at last, "I overreacted. I mean, really _really_ overreacted."

"Oh, well. Happens to the best of us, sweetie," Faith replied and nudged Willow's nose with her forefinger. So Willow had been upset for the reason that Faith had assumed.

"But Xander and Buffy must think that I've totally lost it," she wiped some of the remaining tears off with the back of her hand.

Faith thought about telling Will what she had said to their friends after the redhead had fled upstairs, but eventually she decided against it. "They'll get over it. It's not like they haven't acted crazy at least once in their life." _Like, maybe, tonight…?_

"Mmm, true," the redhead grinned once again. Looking deep into Faith's eyes, she remarked softly, "Hope you know that this has nothing to do with you." Faith nodded instantly and Willow went on. "I-It was just…I didn't want them to see us kissing and think that it means nothing. 'Kiss! *Bam*. Alright, who's next', you know?"

"Oh!" Faith was surprised. Now she didn't only know that Willow had been referring to her overreacting earlier, now she also knew the reason for it. And it made her fall in love with this girl all over again. "A kiss means a lot to you, right?" This question was pretty redundant, since Faith knew the answer to it already. She respected this attitude to the highest degree; she herself had been very careless when it came to that – but this had been pre-Willow. Now she was much more aware of the importance of this comparatively small token of affection.

Willow nodded and felt how Faith put a finger under her chin, tilting her head. She knew what the brunette had in mind and welcomed the lips that were brushing against hers seconds later.

Tender. Conciliatory. Barely more than a tickle against her lips.

When they broke apart again, Willow's vision was blurred. Only this time, it were happy tears running down her face, not upset ones.

She blinked a couple of times in order to clear her vision. Upon succeeding, she could see two big deep-brown eyes, whose attention was solely on her.

"You ready to head down again?" the brunette asked. Willow looked at her for a couple of seconds, without replying. "Well, if not…I could ask Mr. Gordo to come back and cuddle you some more," she suggested with a pout.

"No, no, that's okay," Willow nodded. However, feeling her face again with her fingers, she got an 'uh-oh'-expression. "God, I must look like a wet rat…"

Faith smirked a little as she assisted her in wiping the last remains of tears away. "Oh, definitely!" But when she saw Willow getting even more distressed, she hurried to correct herself. "Kidding, Will. You look lovely."

"Liar," the little redhead glowered.

Faith thought about this briefly. "Well, yeah…but, no, I think you look presentable enough."

"Okay," Willow sniffled one last time and snuggled closer to her slayer. Just for a few short moments. Faith cradled her in her strong arms, relieved due to the successful aversion of a possible Scoobie crisis.

They disentangled themselves and turned to walk towards the hall. Faith put an encouraging hand on the small of Willow's back and kept it there until they reached the upper landing of the stairs. She lost her hold on the redhead only when they were entering the others' field of view.

* * *

"Will…," an anxious Buffy immediately exclaimed when she saw the redhead descending.

The blonde's reaction upon seeing her friend was quite understandable, since she still didn't know what she had done wrong. Her mom and Xander wore similar expressions.

Willow reached the foot of the stairs and rushed towards Buffy instantly, pulling her into a tentative hug.

"Sorry, Will," Buffy said softly, at any rate relieved that Willow was apparently offering peace. At least, she had come back.

"No, I am," the redhead replied. "It's just…you kinda threw me off…"

In the meantime, Faith had joined Joyce and Xander, who were standing nearby. Her face was rather neutral, no sign of anger at or harmonization with her friends. However, when Xander put an arm on her shoulder and looked at her with a mixture of apprehension and mild guilt, she smiled at him reassuringly.

Moments later, Willow came over to Xander and repeated the gesture. This without saying anything.

Buffy looked quizzically at Faith, who seemed to hover near Willow as if she was her new bodyguard. But this was not what puzzled her; it was more the fact had been able to calm Willow down. Not that she thought Faith wasn't capable of something like that…it was just new for her.

Like many things about her. Only did these things almost exclusively deal with Willow. When the redhead wasn't anywhere in sight, the slayer was still her usual self – full of innuendoes, jokes about the fun of slaying, et cetera.

Faith caught her look, but thought nothing about it.

"Is everything okay again?" Joyce asked when Willow and Xander broke apart. "Or do we need to get the sleeping bags from the attic?"

She hadn't meant it to come out sounding like a joke, since she really worried if the kids would still be okay with the sleeping arrangements, but the youngsters started smiling, anyway. Most likely out of relief.

"No, we're good," Faith replied, looking at Willow for assurance. Her nod confirmed this.

* * *

Following this, all five current members of the household settled in on and around the couch. Joyce had cooked some more cocoa and they watched a video.

Buffy, Willow and Joyce were sitting on the couch, while Faith and Xander sat on the ground, which gave Faith an opportunity to brush Will's leg with her head occasionally, an action the little witch enjoyed.

There was still a safety distance between the redhead and the blonde slayer, but the mood seemed to be okay otherwise.

* * *

When the movie had ended, the kids went upstairs to change into their night wear.

They were taking the whole 'sleep'over literal and really planned on sleeping some.

At the moment, Willow was in the bathroom, brushing her teeth, getting ready for the night.

She was already wearing one of her favorite pj's, the green and red chequered one.

Outside in the hall, she could hear not one, but two doors opening and someone stepping out.

"Hey, slayer, nice outfit," the laughing voice of her male best friend invaded her ears.

"Very funny," her girlfriend replied seconds later, obviously not very amused.

Xander still chuckled a bit as his voice got fainter and he presumably headed downstairs.

Curious to find out what Xander was referring to, she finished her cleanup, put her toothbrush in her tumbler and went to open the door.

Doing so, she saw a sulking brunette leaning against the doorjamb of the opposing room, holding a toothbrush in her hand. And looking her up and down, she realized why her girlfriend wasn't really a happy camper right now.

"Oh, God…," she blurted and put her hands over her mouth in a futile attempt to keep from giggling. She had no idea that letting Buffy pick out a pajama for Faith to wear tonight would end in _such _a catastrophe. At least, 'catastrophe' was probably the word hammering its way into Faith's brain right now.

The pj resembling the catastrophe was not only way more colorful and frilly than clothes the brunette usually wore…but, to make matters worse, it turned out to be a Muppets-pajama. Elmo, Oscar in his trashcan, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo and even the Cookie Monster greeted from various spots of the item of clothing.

Faith walked past the redhead that was still trying to get her giggling under control. "Watch it, little girl, or do you wanna get spanked?" she warned, though not being entirely serious about spanking her.

At least not in the negative way in that one could interpret this concept. Willow's 'well-why-don't-you-try?'-wink might provoke her into giving the redhead a 'positive' spanking some time in the next days.

"Sorry," Willow smiled, calming down slowly, "but you just look so awfully cute…"

_Or…Whoa…ohhh…_she suddenly noticed that the pajama possibly wasn't as suitable for children as she had though it was. Because Faith's butt wore Cookie Monster's most famous utterance '_AWWWWM-num-num-num-num…'_. Only problem – there was no cookie anywhere near that area...

Faith didn't notice Willow's surprised expression and maybe she hadn't even noticed the flourish on her tushie yet. She held her toothbrush under the water jet before applying some toothpaste to it.

After brushing for a couple of seconds, she mumbled, "Please tell me why an eighteen-year old would still wear something like that…"

Toothbrush in mouth didn't make it easy, but the redhead could still understand her. "Well, I don't know…," Willow replied. "Maybe we could start with why a sixteen-year old gave in into wearing it and didn't fight it tooth and nail," she grinned, leaning against the wall.

Faith rolled her eyes and refused to answer. Brushing her teeth had priority for her right now. Especially since she had no idea how to respond.

"But did you see what's on your…," she noticed Willow pointing towards her backside.

Faith turned around to get a look at it; but since she wasn't endowed with a giraffe's neck, she stood absolutely no chance.

She looked around and remembered the full-length mirror in Joyce's bedroom. She went there, with the toothbrush in her mouth and a Willow on her heels.

Stepping in front of it, with her butt facing the very handy invention, she looked over her shoulder and noticed the mirror-inverted imprint _'mun-mun-mun-mun-MWWWWA'_.

It took her a moment to make sense of it, but eventually… "Oh, no…," she chewed on her toothbrush. Even thissupposed joke didn't make her feel any better about her outfit.

Willow giggled again, the look on Faith's face has priceless.

"Now be careful or else you might drool all over your pretty pajama," Willow admonished her playfully. "Which means, Buffy would have to give you a new one."

As quick as lightning, Faith sprinted over to the sink, spit out the remaining toothpaste, cleaned toothbrush and mouth and dried herself off. "Oh, thank goodness you told me," she replied. "I bet she has even 'cuter' ones hidden somewhere." Suddenly her pajama didn't seem so god-awful anymore.

But still… "Think this is B's revenge? For telling you about the movie?" Faith asked hopefully, as Willow accompanied her on the way out of the bathroom.

Willow thought about it; Faith's assumption seemed to be pretty much correct. Grinning, she replied, "See, I told you should have brought your own pajama…," gave the '_AWWWWM-num-num-num-num'_ a tentative squeeze and made her way downstairs where Xander and Buffy were keeping Joyce some more company.

"You know very well that I don't have one," Faith replied and followed behind.

_to be continued..._

* * *

**A/N: So, Buffy and Xander must be extremely dense, huh? Still having no clue...? Who knows :P**

**A/N #2: So, a little more lighthearted end to this chapter, I hope. Again, thanks for reading, guys; I really love your reviews! :) Oh, and before I forget, happy holidays and a happy new year ;)**


	39. Speaking of'truth'

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** New schedule planny thing going on... from now on, this story will be updated every two weeks ;)  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

* * *

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE --- SPEAKING OF… 'TRUTH'…

After a few more minutes of hanging out in the living room – Faith was wearing the by far fluffiest pajama of all of them – the 'fivesome' got ready for bed. By now it was 2 am.

The matter of who would sleep where tonight was easily decided: Joyce got quartered into Buffy's room for the night, Xander set up his camp in the spare room that usually served as a storage room for Joyce's gallery, and Willow, Buffy and Faith were to sleep in mom's big, comfy bed.

A quick brush and comb later, Xander headed towards his room, allowing Buffy her respective time in front of the mirror. Joyce had said 'good night' by now and was already in Buffy's room.

In the meantime, the twosome of cuteness had settled in into Joyce's bed already. At least, Willow had settled in already; lying on her back, she watched as Faith closed the door that lead out into the hall, before the brunette came walking over to her.

"You know what, Red?" the brunette ventured, as she finally crawled into the bed, joining her girlfriend.

"Hm?" the redhead replied as she turned to face her more fully.

"I like you in leather," Faith explained with a grin. The Halloween-pic with Ghost Willow was safely hidden in her jeans pocket; she hoped that no one would miss it that much, since there were about a dozen other pics of Willow in her skimpy outfit left.

"Don't you get any funny ideas," Willow admonished her girlfriend, "that Halloween was the first and the last time that I wore and ever will wear anything leathery. Besides, it was Buffy's fault…," she pouted.

"Uh…don't forget your vampire doppelganger, honey," Faith mentioned, ignoring the last bit of Willow's statement for now. "She had the leather thing going for her. And as far as I know, _you_ wore her outfit too at some point, right?" she snickered and nudged Willow's chest with her finger.

"That was Buffy's fault too…she was the one with the 'really bad idea'! Twice!" the redhead exclaimed, for the first time really thinking about this strange coincidence.

"Hm," Faith took on a mischievously-contemplative poise, "maybe I should thank her for it."

"Whatever you're thinking – no!" Willow said vehemently. She knew that look on Faith's face all to well; it never meant anything decent, be it in a sexual or any other way.

"Aww, come on, Reddie," Faith whined, but Willow's look showed her that the redhead was serious about this, so she dropped any potential thoughts concerning that subject. "At least let me take revenge on her…for tonight, okay? For the 'daring' thing, not for the…," she sighed, "pajama…because that's…oh, well."

The little witch seemed to think about it for a moment, but then she sighed. "No, that's okay. They couldn't…I just overreacted, is all."

"But if they do something like that again, you'll let me," Faith requested hopeful.

"Deal," Willow replied, knowing very well that this wouldn't happen again any time soon; her reaction had probably scared their friends far too much.

Faith grinned at her, but the grin slowly morphed into a loving smile. She let her hand wander, nearing Willow's arm. "So…was it fun as a ghost?" she thought back to Willow and the covering-up of her intended outfit.

"Hmm…kinda no," came the answer after a couple of seconds. "It was more annoying than fun." Off Faith's prodding look, she went on, "I mean, I could walk straight through walls and everything instead of going around – and that almost gave Giles a heart attack… but that was it!" she grumbled disappointedly.

Faith nodded in mild understanding.

"It was weird, walking around without an actual body to walk with, you know," Willow continued. "It's hard to explain, but…you don't really have control over things. No sense of smell, no sense of balance…not being able to touch anything…," she reached out and captured Faith's hand.

"Okay, agreed, being a ghost – definitely not as fun as it sounds in the brochure."

Willow looked down at their hands, happy that she _was_ able to touch things.

The only positive thing about Willow's ghastly costume – that much was still clear for Faith – was the fact that this way she got to see her girlfriend in that _very unusual_ outfit. "You still got that outfit?" she asked with a smirk.

"The ghost or the other one?" the redhead countered, although she had a feeling that the slayer was referring to the latter.

"Dummy," Faith raised an eyebrow.

Willow was right. "Um…no. It belonged to Buffy, and if you want it, then you'd have go and ask her," she grinned. "But then you'd also have to explain to her, why you want it." She had a pretty good idea, what Faith had in mind. The idea didn't really appeal to her, but it wasn't entirely appalling, either. Maybe Faith just wanted a keepsake... apart from the one that no one but the slayer knew about at this point.

"You know…I'd probably come up with a plausible explanation."

"I do know that," the witch replied and shook her head at the same time. But then a little yawn escaped her lips, making Faith laugh quietly.

"Aww, you sleepy?" she smiled.

"Sorry, yeah," Willow admitted.

The slayer grunted, mildly disappointed. "You still awake enough give me a good-night kiss?" Faith asked playfully and pursed her lips.

Willow happily admitted to this one kiss. "Night."

Faith edged closer, "One more?"

The little witch smirked and kissed her again.

"One more?" Faith laughed, wanting to know how long she could draw this game out.

And again Willow kissed her briefly, though slightly under protest – not because she didn't want to kiss Faith or was too sleepy for that, but because they weren't in their own four walls and she didn't know when Buffy would decide to enter the room.

"Hmm…one more?" Faith begged, noticing Willow's fear of getting caught in the act. She knew that the other slayer was still relatively 'far' away from the room, but didn't plan on letting her girlfriend in on her knowledge. It was much more fun this way.

Again Willow leaned forth, capturing Faith's lips in a quick yet passionate and almost breathtaking kiss. The slayer whimpered in pleasure, but just when she was about to put her hand behind her girlfriend's head to deepen the kiss even more, this one finally had to come up for air.

"Okay, that was ten kisses in one," she gasped, "That's all you get." And not even Faith's playful pout could make her change her mind this time. "Behave," Willow instructed as she settled in with her back turned towards Faith.

But Faith simply… snuggled up to her girlfriend. "You know that I always… do… behave… myself…," the slayer whispered and spooned her redhead, with one hand on Willow's tummy. The other hand brushed Willow's hair away, allowing herself full access to the soft skin of her neck.

She puffed against it gently and made the little hairs stand on edge. Her hand left her girlfriend's hair and she let her index finger follow Willow's spine until it reached the small of her back and stayed there.

The slayer inhaled the soft Willow-y scent, which today was a mixture of the redhead's favorite cherry-strawberry shampoo and that yummy chocolate-mint-y lotion that Faith loved herself. She had let her Will use it this morning. "Mmmm," she mumbled. After Eight Willow.

Willow closed her eyes and tilted her head, providing her honey with a better access to her neck. With Faith's body pressing into her back, she almost forgot where exactly they were at the moment.

After snuffling and nuzzling for a while, Faith made a move to kiss the soft skin. Her hand didn't stay put either; slowly it found its way under Willow's pajama top.

"Mmm, Faith…," Willow purred as she felt the slayer's hand directly on her spine, moving higher.

"Hm?" the brunette smirked and let her hand meet its twin, which by now had made skin contact as well, on Reddie's tummy. The perfectly-shaped-makes-you-more-than-just-a-little-envious-tummy.

"Faith," the redhead tried again, this time more resolutely, since she noticed one of the hands creeping dangerously high.

"Something wrong, Sexy?" Faith teased as her hand cupped Willow's left puppy.

"Mmhmmm," the redhead replied with a mixture of protest and arousal in her voice. "Buffy… could walk in any second."

"Uh-hm…," Faith continued her ministrations, knowing how she could drive her girlfriend crazy. In one way or the other.

"Okay, remember that talk about the freckles yesterday?" came the warning voice, trying to remind her. Buffy walking in on them was… not really a welcome thought for her, especially after her own weird behavior tonight.

"Hm…nope," the slayer played dumb, though the conversation was all too vivid in her memory.

"You promised to obey… so… stop…," the redhead put her hand over Faith's, stilling it.

"You forgot the rebel part…," her girlfriend pinched her nipple with the fingers that still had enough room to move.

Willow tried to object, but…with every second that passed and the more Faith's left hand fondled her breast while the other one seemed to get into the game as well…a little further down…her mind started to forget what exactly she _didn't _want Faith to do.

"Hm…baby…," the young witch moaned as the sensations threatened to overwhelm her. Instead of pulling Faith's hand away, she used her own to keep it there and apply more pressure.

Faith was pleased when she noticed the reaction. She continued to kiss her neck and fumble her front and felt how Willow became more demanding with every second.

Willow enjoyed it, put her free hand on Faithie's '_AWWWWM-num-num-num-num'_ to pull her even closer.

The brunette giggled; oh, yeah, she knew how to talk and/or caress the other girl round. She gripped Willow tighter and pressed her body into hers. They both moaned as the moment got even more heated and Faith almost reached the most 'dangerous' spot on Willow's body.

Willow already prepared herself for the now-not-too-unwelcome assault, the one she knew was just a few seconds away…or not…?

_Huh? _Her eyes snapped open in confusion when she felt Faith pulling away, felt how Faith's hands were leaving the warmth of her pajama and her lips were leaving the sensitized skin of her neck. She turned around, just in time to see Faith laying down flat on her back. But before she had a chance to ask her girlfriend about what's up, the door opened and Buffy came in.

Willow understood. _Oh, thank God, _she thought, not concerning the fact that the blonde had come in, but because Faith had enough control – over fingers and over her slayer senses – to stop before they could have been 'caught in the act'.

Since the lights were already turned off, the blonde didn't have much to do except for crawling into the bed that the other girls already occupied. Faith lay on the right side of the bed, Willow right next to her, in the middle – luckily the bed was equipped with one single, but big and comfy mattress; sleeping in the gap between two mattresses wasn't really her most favorite pastime. Consequently, Buffy took the left side of the bed and lay down.

Nobody said a thing for a couple of moments. Buffy weighed her words – and deeds – carefully, not wanting to put her foot in her mouth one more time. Faith just lay there, not really thinking about anything at all, just a little occupied with sweet memories of what her hands had just done. Willow, however, was desperately trying to get her pulse and breathing – and everything else that was fairly out of order due to recent events – under control again.

Buffy noticed that something was up, but figured that Willow simply still felt a little uncomfortable around her. She finally decided on a relatively safe topic – safe, at least concerning her and Willow's relationship…or not…? "So…uh, Faith…are you gonna tell us about those _two _items of clothing?"

Faith lay there, one arm behind her head, looking as if butter wouldn't melt in her mouth, while Willow's barely controllable thoughts and feelings got heated up anew upon hearing this.

The brunette laughed, "Well, I wasn't wearing a bra to begin with…and I don't usually wear…," she motioned with her hands, for the other girls to see, tracing the outlines of imaginary panties.

Willow's cheeks glowed, just thinking about that and she turned her head towards Faith to hide this from Buffy. The blonde herself was shocked upon hearing it; not only did the other slayer play strip poker with demons, but she also didn't even have the decency to wear panties when going out… or at any other time being…?! _Hope she's at least wearing some now…but I'm not gonna ask…oh, no! Uh-uh!_

"And I had been clever enough to start with my shoes and socks," Faith grinned openly, "so I guess now you can figure out what I was talking about."

"Oh," Buffy grumbled. This was almost disappointing to hear, especially since it was _Faith_ telling them this. She seriously had expected more from her. On the other hand… Faith had just been damn lucky; if she had lost one more game… the demons would have been presented with… more interesting bits and bits to drool or whatever at.

Willow was less disappointed, since she was currently busy mentally slapping her forehead; _that _possibility she hadn't thought about.

"Wanna tell Xan about this?" the brunette smirked, seeing the recognition on the other girls' faces.

"Hmmm…no…," Buffy replied, "we shouldn't ruin his fantasy, huh?"

This way the poor boy at least got to keep one of his fantasies; his dream of sleeping with Buffy, Willow and Faith at the same time…uh, in the same room with them…was officially ruined… for now.

"Liking that plan!" the youngest girl laughed and leaned over to slap the other slayer's hand in celebration of their (un)evilness.

During that process, certain parts of her body came dangerously close to her girlfriend's, who simply lay there stick as a poker, trying to not emit any bodily reactions that Buffy might unfortunately pick up on and might start asking questions about.

Faith seemed to be able to switch modes so easily; from almost seducing her in Buffy's mom's bed to acting as if nothing had happened at all to talking about her surprisingly fully-clothed strip poker event – and all of it in less than two minutes.

She – or rather her body – wasn't that easy at switching; it still had trouble controlling the throbbing between her legs. And the talk about Faith's clothing and the girl's closeness didn't help her any with that.

Buffy was troubled by the apparent taciturnity that Willow exhibited. She had hoped that Willow maybe would have something to say to the topic that she had brought up, but she hadn't and furthermore made a stand of not looking at her, and Buffy started to worry even more.

Had her blindfolded dare, despite Willow's assurance that everything was okay, ruined so much between them that her best friend would be unwilling communicate with her in any way?

Of course, she couldn't know what _really _was going on inside her friend's head.

And thus she turned to face her more directly and put a tentative hand on her shoulder. "Are we really okay, Will?" Buffy asked finally.

"Mm-hm," the redhead nodded and looked at her friend; she knew what Buffy was talking about and it was a welcome distraction for her. Faith propped up on her elbow to get a better look at both of them. "Sorry. I just…," Willow shrugged and shook her head, still feeling bad for reacting in this overdramatic way.

"No, I'm sorry. It was…we shouldn't have asked you to do that," Buffy squeezed her shoulder lightly and put on her most apologetic face.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her fellow slayer smiling down at the redhead softly. She knew that the brunette wouldn't have had _any_ problems with kissing her friend, but she didn't know how she felt about Willow rejecting her.

"Yeah, not everybody digs that…admittedly…super hot brunette chick…," Faith accentuated every word and let her hand wander over her hip slowly, making sure that Willow got a perfect view of it, "that much that they actually want to kiss her right there and then." She purred, made sure that her statement burned its way into Willow's brain. But when she felt that the redhead was trying to keep her body from reacting to her words, she had mercy and addressed Buffy. "Next time you and Xan better keep your fantasies to yourselves."

Buffy blushed due to the involuntary-declaredly fairly present _fantasies_ and the lascivious grin that the slayer was giving her. Faith felt her shoulder being shoved by the blonde, probably in a desperate attempt wipe that expression from her face and/or stop herself from blushing. However, it only amused the brunette even more.

Observing the interaction between the other girls, Willow couldn't help but laugh and thus brought the others' attention back to herself. Buffy was glad that the mood had lightened, Faith herself noticed that the blonde's mind was at ease again; nonetheless, she swore to herself to make the other one pay if she'd ever do something like that again.

They looked down at the redhead's grinning face for a little while longer, Buffy full of friendshippy love, Faith full of love of an entirely different kind. A perfect moment – at least for two of the three, since the youngest of them wanted to do one more thing.

"But…d'you what?" she looked at Buffy, "I think Reddie'd do it, if she really wanted to. And I'm pretty sure that she doesn't mind _this_," with this, she bent down and gave her girlfriend a not-too-girlfriendly kiss on the temple.

Willow smiled despite herself and put a tentative hand on the slayer's arm that was resting on her shoulder. Unlike she had thought, Faith's show of affection didn't throw her off again; understandable, it was a chaste kiss and came with warning.

Buffy giggled upon seeing the endearing behavior and rolled back on her back, with one arm behind her head. "You're lucky that she's not wearing that lipstick anymore," she told Willow, "otherwise you'd have an enormous lipstick-outlined smacker on your forehead. How'd you explain that to mom and Xan?"

Briefly Willow looked at the lips that would have been responsible for that _enormous smacker,_ and its possessor that was still hovering over her. She knew that Faith usually used kiss proof lip stick which pretty much nullified this risk. She came back to Buffy's – perhaps rhetorical – question. "That maybe…I had a nightmare, rolled around in bed and accidentally hit Faith's lips with my head…?" she grinned.

Both slayers laughed at this.

When they calmed down again, Faith added another thought, "Or how about the truth?"

Willow froze instantly and her eyes went wide.

She desperately hoped that Faith wasn't thinking what she thought she was thinking. But the brunette reacted quickly with an almost unnoticeable headshake. "'It was Buffy's fault'!" she blurted in perfect Willow-manner.

"You're gonna rub it in my face for all eternity, huh?" Buffy pouted and pulled the blanket up to her chin.

"I'm thinking, yes," Willow replied, grinning at her girl that was finally rolling off of her and lying down.

"Alright, then. Night, you two," the blonde grumbled, noticing how Faith was pulling up her end of the blanket as well, consequently snuggling them all in.

The fun ensued seconds later with…

"Night, B."

"Night, B…Buffy."

Faith giggled upon hearing this. "B" was used to Faith calling her that, so it didn't surprise her. What _did_ surprise her, was the fact that Faith was already rubbing off on Willow this much. This was the second... no, _third _time she had heard Willow calling her that; and she could only imagine how often that happened when she wasn't around to hear it.

Willow gave Faith a hard dig in the ribs, trying to bring the giggling to an end.

"Ow!" Faith laughed harder.

"Hey, if you two wanna fight, go ahead. But not in my bed," Buffy warned the younger girls.

"Technically, it's not yours," the brunette replied.

"Well, true…but you know what I mean."

"Yeah, we do," Willow replied with a smile. Facing her girlfriend, she breathed a soft, "Night, Faith." Suddenly she noticed how weird the following couple of hours were going to be. Lying together in one and the same bed, and not cuddling or touching in any other – harmless – way. They never did not touch when they were sleeping together.

"Night, Reddie," the slayer still grinned, though the redhead's pensive expression made her worry for a second. But when the lips started to form a little smile, she instantly relaxed.

A few minutes passed and Faith paid close attention to the sounds that surrounded her. More precisely, the sounds coming from the bodies next to her. One of them sounded still very much awake, with normal breathing and normal heartbeat; the other one's breathing had gotten shallower, the heartbeat had slowed down – this one was obviously asleep already.

Very slowly and without waking the sleeping girl, she turned around, until she finally lay on her stomach. She moved her left arm, raised it a bit and let it come to rest on the other girl's tummy.

Willow grinned in delight and held onto Faith's arm tightly, making sure that it wouldn't escape suddenly.

Without knowing it, Faith had done the thing that Willow had hoped for. Touch her. Now she could finally go to sleep. She felt a tiny kiss on her upper arm and fingers that continuously drew circles on her pajama-covered tummy.

Right next to them, sleeping Buffy didn't notice a single thing.

_to be continued..._


	40. It's all hugs and pupp uh, kisses

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** See you in two weeks ;)  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

* * *

CHAPTER FORTY --- IT'S ALL HUGS AND PUPP…UH, KISSES…

She knew she was asleep. She knew she was dreaming. Or at least that she _had been_ dreaming. Now there were thoughts in her brain that didn't make any sense at all.

Well, okay, _that alone _wasn't really an unusual occurrence in dreaming.

But still it seemed weird to her. So much more illogical than most of her own illogical dreams. Plus, the voices…they sounded so far away, so far that they couldn't possibly originate in her own head.

"I'll even eat you without the plastic," she heard a relatively low voice mumble and tried to make some sense of it.

"Cookies!" another, higher, voice replied seconds later. "Look, I've got one too. It's blue, actually."

The sleeping person was trying to noodle if these two utterances were related in any way or not. Blue cookies? Well, okay. And did the cookies have anything to do with the plastic thing that the other person was talking about? One could almost come to that conclusion, 'almost' being the operative word…

"Hmm…Apollo 11 just landed, I gotta go," the first voice invaded her brain again. She couldn't tell how much time had passed since the last statement – an asleep brain always plays tricks on you when it comes to that.

The other voice grunted. Maybe approvingly, maybe disapprovingly. She had no idea.

But she was pretty sure that this statement was _not _in any way related to the other ones… _Or was it…?_

Again, a certain time span passed without any noise. She was almost back to her supposedly very own thoughts by now.

But then…

"Ah, that chocolate-y thing is trying to eat me! Do something, please!" the latter voice screeched, sounding fairly desperate.

Buffy's eyes snapped and instantly she sat upright in the bed.

She shook her head, trying to find her bearings at first.

There was no chocolate-y thing anywhere to be seen.

Her brain was still not thinking clearly, since she actually began to see a kind of weird and twisted sense in all these statements. _The chocolate-y thing came to the earth in the Apollo 11…looking for something to eat…doesn't matter what it is or what it is wearing/what it is wrapped up in (or isn't, rather)…and the blue cookies are…a…oh, what the hell…doesn't make sense! _She rubbed her temple with the flat of her hand.

She looked to her left and noticed that the other girls were still fast asleep, looking as if nothing had happened. And maybe nothing _had _happened; she wasn't sure – could be that she had still just imagined the voices.

However, out of the blue, Faith decided to speak up. "I'm a hot fudge sundae…," she mumbled into the pillow her face was half-buried in and it almost sounded threatening, though she had the hint of a smile on her lips.

_Wait, a threatening hot fudge sundae…there's chocolate in there, right? And I think Will was the one afraid of the 'chocolate-y thing'. So, is chocolate-y Faith eating Willow now…? Oh! Bad thought! I should go back to sleep. Like, now…_

She was about to lie down again, when she heard a little 'yum' noise from the redhead.

_Hmm, _Buffy chuckled lightly, _so_ _little Will not afraid of big bad hot-fudge-sundae-Faith…?_

"Yeah?" Faith purred, maybe referring to Willow's 'yum', maybe not.

"Yeah," the witch replied.

"Okay." Satisfied with the answer, Faith let the matter drop.

A few more funny conversations and minutes later, Buffy finally managed to go back to sleep. By now, the other girls had moved on; no talking anymore, only synchronized snoring. This would almost be funny, if it wasn't that annoying. She always preferred talking to snoring – even if that meant illogic non-plus.

* * *

Willow was the first girl to awaken in the morning. She was half-lying on her side, half-lying on her back, facing Faith. Pleased, she noticed that Faith had maintained the possessive hold on her throughout the entire night.

She stayed in bed for a little while longer, watching the sleeping Faith; but eventually, her body urged her to get out of bed and go to the bathroom.

Reluctantly, she got a hold of the slayer's arm and slowly removed it from her waist. Faith grumbled in confusion, but apparently didn't wake up.

Now Willow's only problem was getting out of bed without _really _waking one of other girls, or possibly both of them. That was the disadvantage of being the one in the middle. She considered her options – crawling out on the foot end, she would probably take the blanket with her altogether, plus it would take the longest; therefore crawling out on one of the sides was the easier way to go.

Now…the blonde obstacle or the brunette one?

The decision wasn't actually that hard. For several reasons. One, she was more used to climbing up (and over) Faith to begin with. And two, it was definitely more fun than doing the same thing with the Buffy-obstacle. At least, if one asked her.

Slowly, she edged closer to the unsuspecting brunette, rolled around a bit and soon after found herself lying on top of Faith, who herself was still lying on her tummy.

The brunette noticed that someone was going on and smirked with her eyes still closed. Willow noticed this, but had no idea if she had woken the other girl. What she also noticed was the fact that Buffy was beginning to stir, and looking into her direction, she noticed why.

Despite her trying not to, she had taken a part of the blanket with her, leaving poor Buffy almost fully exposed to the cool morning air.

Willow wondered what would happen if Buffy woke up just now and saw her…practically sitting on Faith's butt. The funnest thing she could think of right now was shooting up to take a picture of that scenario.

But the blonde didn't wake up. All she did was giving the blanket a doughty yank and pulling it over herself again. Consequently, she made it easier for Will to slide out of bed fully, since now Faith and _her_ were the blanket-less parties.

Willow stood up and watched as Faith lifted her head, turning it to face her again. Yes, the younger slayer was awake already, although barely so.

Leaning down, she tried to pull as much blanket over Faith again as possible. Content with the result, she gave the brunette a little kiss on the cheek, taken in with a soft murmur, before she headed off to the bathroom.

* * *

Willow had barely entered the bathroom, it had been maybe two or three minutes since then, when she heard the door that connected this room to Joyce's bedroom open and someone enter. Luckily she was already done… doing her business, so the intruder didn't bother her.

Just being in the midst of washing her hands, she looked into the mirror and saw who the little intruder was. Faithie closed the door and grinned mischievously, "So you wanna tell me…what that was all about?" she pointed behind her with her thumb. "I mean, not that I mind being tackled by my redheaded cutie in the morning, but…"

Willow smiled and shook her head, indicating that she was sorry, "I just needed to…you know," turning around, she pointed toward the toilet.

"Huh," Faith realized Willow's true reasons for rousing her. "But why didn't you just crawl over B, then? You know that way _your _way would have been much shorter," she mock-complained and neared her girlfriend.

"You know, I really thought about that," she laughed and saw Faith's pouting expression, "but you're just so much cuddlier…"

"Awww, suck-up," she kissed Willow on the cheek for this compliment.

The redhead smiled and watched as Faith came to a halt next to her at the sink. Pulling a scrunchie from her wrist, the brunette tied her hair together, just as Willow had done it with hers shortly before Faith had showed up.

Almost in sync, they brushed their teeth, but this really didn't stop them from talking.

"How was your night?" Willow mumbled.

"Oh, well, pretty snugly. After all, I had my Willow-Pillow right by my side," Faith grinned and showed off her newly 'polished' teeth. Spitting out the remaining toothpaste, she continued, "But did you ever notice that B snores?" She had woken up in the middle of the night and had noticed this.

"You're one to talk…," the wicca teased and repeated the slayer's movement.

"Hey, my snoring is cute…," she countered, but when she saw Willow's raised eyebrows…, "well, it is…okay, maybe not," she pouted. "But some things are cute about me, right?" she asked hopeful and didn't even know why she wanted to hear a positive answer to this question. She never had thought of herself as cute, not by far. But she knew that Willow saw something cute in her, and she simply wanted her to say it.

"Oh, definitely!" Willow obliged. "I mean…you're still wearing _that _pajama…"

The redhead should have known that she wouldn't get away with that remark. Millimilliseconds later, two extremely strong arms squeezed her tightly from behind and almost made it hard for her to breathe. "I'd take that back, if I were you…," Faith growled, but Willow could still feel that she wasn't being terribly serious about it.

"Just saying how it is. Besides, what do you wanna do about it?" Will looked over her shoulder challengingly.

Faith pretended to think. "Hmmm…I know where your ticklish spots are…and I could _use _that knowledge right here and now. And this…," she moved her hands threateningly close to said spots, "might lead to uncontrollable giggling and the probable waking of B, Xan and 'Mom', who'd consequently come a'runnin' and ask questions and…"

Uh-oh, horror-scenario! "Okay, fine! I'll take it back, your pjs aren't cute."

"Thanks," nodded and released Willow, but just to put her arm around her waist shortly after and walk her out of the bathroom into the hall.

As they walked down the stairs, Willow couldn't help but look at Faith's unusual-hairdo-ponytail, "You do have cute ears, though." The only times she usually got to see those was during her nibble-earlobe-attacks. And even then she not so much got to see them, but rather to taste them. But since Faith's earlobes were really yummy, as far as Willow was concerned, they also had to look cute.

"That's better," Faith smirked.

* * *

When the couple reached the foot of the stairs, they were surprised to already hear noises from the kitchen. It was still pretty early and therefore they had assumed to be the only awake people in this house.

"Morning, girls," Joyce said, as she saw them enter the kitchen.

"Morning, Mrs. Summers," Willow smiled, when she found the blonde already in the midst of breakfast preparations.

"Hey," Faith followed suit and took her usual seat at the counter. "Why are you up already?"

"Ah, well," Joyce shook her head, thinking, "I couldn't really sleep. I guess there is something about not sleeping in my own room that's just…"

"Oh, sorry!" Willow started, "If we'd known…we could have stayed in Buffy's room, the bed might just have been enough for the three of us…"

Joyce simply smiled nonchalantly.

"Why 'the _three_ of us'?" Faith asked with a sly grin. "B could've slept on the floor." When she saw Willow's admonishing look, "or on the living room couch…," Willow still stared and Faith sighed, "Okay…I could've gone to Xan. He's my boyfriend, after all."

The other 'girls' seemed to be satisfied with that answer and laughed. Joyce wondered how much exactly Faith was being henpecked by Willow, usually the young brunette was more insubordinate and less compliant.

Dismissing the though with a shake of her head, she went back to work – which currently consisted of boiling eggs – while Willow sat down next to Faith. "Are you okay with boiled eggs?" she asked, as she put some water into a pot. "I don't really feel up for anything scrambled or omelette-like today."

"Well, I could help," Faith shrugged, "but that might as well result in…scrambled… omelettes..."

"She's really good at making those," Willow winked.

"And _Reddie _here is the local expert on pancookies," Faith teased back and saw Will sticking out her tongue at her.

Joyce watched them amused. If one knew that those two were involved…or at least was 90 per cent sure about it, it was almost impossible to overlook those teensy-weensy signs of affection. Even if it was only friendly bantering and teasing; of course, accompanied by looks too intimate to be just friendly.

"Maybe we'll save those experiments for another time," she grinned. "Oh, Willow, I think there is a jar of chocolate cream in the cupboard, if you want some for breakfast." She knew that Willow liked it especially.

_Oooh, thanks, Mommy!!! _Willow squealed, as she got off her stool. But when she took it out, she had to notice that it was almost emptied already. She grumbled softly.

"Empty, huh?" Faith pointed out, when she heard Willow's distress. "Well, gimme, then! And a spoon; I don't mind scraping the last bits out. Still yummy!"

Silently thanking her for _that_ ingenious thought, Willow retrieved a spoon from the drawer and put on her most mischievous smirk, "First come, first serve, Faithie! But if you're lucky, I'll even leave some of it for you."

_If not, I'll lick the remains out of your mouth,_ Faith returned the look and Willow seemed to be able to read the thought in her eyes, because she blushed just a tiny little bit.

For a while, she then busied herself with magicking the cream out of the jar, while Faith just kept looking at her…or the glass, or the spoon, or all of the above. Maybe her previous thought was still spinning in her head.

But then she grinned jollily, when Willow finally handed glass and spoon over to her.

Joyce had no idea why, but she thought now might actually be a good time to get some affirmation for her assumptions. One reason, of course, was that Buffy and Xander weren't here yet. "Can I ask you two a question?" she tried for the careful approach.

"Shoot," Faith replied instantly, mainly focused on her yummy chocolate. Right now, she didn't really care about the question that might come.

Willow, however, nodded cautiously. A question affecting them _both_?

"You know, I wanted to…well, let's say…I saw how you two behave around…," she hesitantly motioned with her fingers back and forth between them, "with the…and…," despite the stuttering, Willow paled, since she had an idea what mom was referring to, "and last night…and believe me, I'm not judgmental…and I just wanted to know if you…two are…you know…," she wrung her hands through the entire awkward sentence with no ending, not knowing what else to do with them.

For a few seconds there was silence.

Faith, not having had any cup of coffee yet to be able to think properly, needed some time to process Joyce's question. Playing Joyce's non-sentence over in her head, she let the spoon fall into the jar with a clang.

Willow didn't need to play the sentence over. For a second she thought about dodging the topic or pretending to not know what Joyce was talking about. But Mom's look showed her that none of those maneuvers would have any effect; at least no effect that would buy them more time.

And thus she slid off her stool and went over to Faith. This one gripped the jar just a little tighter when she saw her girlfriend approaching her with a loving smile.

Willow put her arm around Faith's waist and took the jar out of her hands, setting it down on the table. Taking Faith's hands into her right one, she confirmed this with a kiss that was barely more than a brush of her lips on the slayer's cheek, "Yes. Yes, we are."

Joyce observed all this with a mixture of amazement, gratification and happiness. Amazement about the ease with which Willow had just admitted her relationship with Faith to her, gratification for her finally having the confirmation of her assumptions, happiness for Willow and Faith.

"Will…," the slayer whispered and turned her head surprised, the use of Willow's nickname a sign of the confused state that she was in herself. There was no babbling or hyperventilation to be heard from the redhead – two things that she had been 100 per cent sure would occur if the little witch were asked about her relationship to her. She felt another kiss on the edge of her mouth and wondered even more…why was Willow suddenly so open in her show of affections? Was she finally ready to tell the others? _No, that can't be it; she wouldn't have reacted like this yesterday, if she were._

And when Willow leaned back to look at her, Faith could see in her eyes that she was far from ready. The trembling flicker in her eyes – the one that was always there when they happened to touch this subject – was all too present. Mom had been just a… Well, Willow was a bad liar, just like Faith, so lying to her was not an option. The affectionate behavior had just been a way to calm her nerves.

"Do the others know?" Joyce interrupted the couple's moment begrudgingly, but she was simply too curious to find out.

"No," Faith replied, never taking her eyes off Willow; squeezing her hand reassuringly, she added, "and we kinda want to keep it a secret a little while longer, you know, wait for the right moment." It wasn't something that you should simply tell someone on the fly.

"I don't know if that moment will be so easy to find," Joyce opined as she came closer, "but…just so you know, I'll support you."

"Thanks, Mrs. Summers," Willow replied with a soft smile, a little more relieved and relaxed.

"'Joyce'," the blonde corrected.

"Joyce," the redhead tried again, with tears in her eyes, and felt herself being pulled into mom's arms and being cuddled for a long time. For her – and she knew that this applied to Faith too – Joyce was much more than just 'Joyce' – she was 'Mom'.

Faith stood about awkwardly. For her, touchie-feelies and all that were still a bit…well, she considered trying to sneak out. She was almost on her way already, but then the two other 'girls' opened their cocoon just a little bit and made her take part as well.

* * *

"Hey. What are you doing?" Buffy asked as she neared the kitchen.

"Waffles," Willow replied with her mouth full of… waffles, indeed. About half an hour had passed, since Joyce had asked Willow and Faith about the extent of their relationship.

Mom was in charge of the waffle-baking, while her kids watched on…and ate some of the waffles here and there.

Buffy went to the fridge to retrieve some orange juice.

"Hey, B, you wanna know something funny? Your redheaded friend here told me that I've got cute ears," she laughed and tugged lightly on Willow's ear in her turn.

"Oh, Will, I wouldn't have said that if I were you…," Buffy almost cringed; she had no idea, if it was a good sign that the brunette told her this. The concepts 'Faith' and 'cute' were…more or less…incompatible for…her…and probably more for Faith herself.

"What?" Faith smirked, "I don't mind. She can say something like that if she wants to," she turned her head to look at Willow and the ear she was less tugging on, but more caressing.

"So she's got privileges now?" Buffy asked as she walked over to the counter and poured some juice into a glass.

"You're not being jealous, are you?" Willow brushed Faith's hand away and looked her blonde friend, who was sitting down opposite her.

"Not really," the blonde grinned, taking a sip from her drink. "Would be interesting to know, how you came to talk about ears, though."

Willow looked at Faith for permission, before she retold the story. "Well…a certain brunette complained about having trouble sleeping, because another girl…," she looked at Buffy momentously, "apparently snored. And I told her that she wasn't really better when it came to that. And she…made an attempt to sell _her _snoring as _cute_, which it really isn't," Faith boxed her ribs for that and Willow laughed. "Anyway, then she wanted to find at least _something_ cute about her, and since she wouldn't let the pajama count…I, well, said the first thing that came to mind."

Faith shrugged. Willow's explanation was pretty much correct.

"_You _had trouble sleeping?" Buffy exclaimed, half irritated, half amused, "_I _had trouble sleeping!" When the couple plus Joyce sent her startled-questioning looks, she added, more calmly. "I swear, you two are the worst sleep talkers ever… I never heard two sleeping people actually lead a conversation. I mean, it would have been fun, if it hadn't been in the middle of the night…"

"Oh…?" Willow started out cautiously. Sleep-talking can be good…or bad. Bad in the sense of maybe blabbering out things that you wouldn't normally talk about. "What did we say?"

"Oh, most of it wasn't really coherent. One of you mumbled something about 'new vegetarian cars'…and then there was something about barking Mr. Gordo…which by the way, is news to me…," the couple grinned at each, unnoticed by the other slayer that was still thinking. Joyce, however, noticed the exchange and smiled at them. "And…oh, at one point, Will was desperately trying to find her hand…I didn't really understand what you wanted to do with it, but, oh, well…"

Willow blushed. She really didn't know what she wanted to do with it, and she didn't know if she really _wanted_ to know.

Faith laughed, thinking about things the redhead could have meant.

"Or that talk where Faith impersonated a chocolate sundae after you yelled something about being attacked by a big chocolate-y thing…no idea, if that was a coincidence or not…though you even made 'yummy' noises," she looked at Willow.

Willow vigorously nodded her head, confirming the coincidence-assumption, while Faith almost felt inclined to reply the contrary.

"And the last thing I remember is…ah, the puppy talk," Buffy raised her eyebrows.

"Puppy…"

"…talk…," the couple squeaked.

"Yeah. I think it was connected to Mr. Gordo, maybe, since Will said, she rather wanted to cuddle the puppies than the piggy. But you," she looked at Faith, "told her that they'll stay where they are, but that Will could play with them later. Then you _both _started snoring and I went back to sleep," Buffy finished her explanation and snatched a waffle from the plate.

"Oh," answered relieved. They definitely could have mumbled something more treasonous. This was nothing, and it wasn't even necessarily related to the human puppies…

"Wait…snoring girls?" sleepy Xander finally made an appearance. "My God, my ideal is ruined. Maybe I should ask Larry, if he's still interested in me."

"Oh, what a tragic loss to the girls' world," Faith put her hand over her heart dramatically. "You can't do that to us!"

"Yeah, well, maybe I'll think about it some more. I love my girls far too much," he grinned at the four ladies in the room, before the waffle plate caught his eye and he went over to help himself.

"Guess now it's official," Buffy exclaimed. "Breakfast's up."

* * *

After breakfast and some more trivial talk about everything and nothing, Joyce had an idea. They had to keep up with their tradition of taking a morning-after-sleepover-group-piccie. A piccie with four teenagers on it that looked as normal as any teenager in the world, not like slayer, slayer, witch and devoted slayerette.

And two of them – one sitting between her blond and her brunette friend on the couch, the other one kneeling behind the first one, with her head on the redhead's shoulder and her arms drawn around her other two friends – didn't necessarily give away the image of a two teens in love. Only the knowing eye really knew what was going on there.

_to be continued..._

* * *

**A/N: **I know, I know... driving you crazy with them not telling the others. But, hey, at least the "parents" know... though Willow and Faith still don't know that Giles knows. Be patient, it's gonna happen at some point (and I know, which point that is, hehe). Again, thanks for your great reviews, guys; they mean a lot to me :)))


	41. ForGiving

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** See you in two weeks ;)  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

**A/N: **Not sure how I feel about this chapter, especially Willow's reaction to a specific something (as always, read to find out)... but maybe you'll like it ;)

**A/N #2: **Thanks again for your great reviews, guys! I'm happy that so many people are still following this and also that "new" readers who stumble across the story find a liking it it (and sometimes read it through within one sitting)! :)

* * *

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE --- (FOR)GIVING

The three-not-necessarily-but-still-somehow-girly-girls-plus-Xan-boy-slumber-party being over did not mean that the guesidents at the Casa del Summers rushed come immediately after breakfast. They enjoyed the atmosphere at the house and mommy Joyce's company far too much.

They spent enough time at the house for Faith to get all embarrassed about the pyjama that she was still wearing again that she was still wearing, but had almost forgotten about by now. Sitting around the living room and watching an only little interesting show TV, Buffy had asked Faith in a veeery innocent tone if she liked her pyjama – a question which the brunette ably countered by inquiring B's intentions behind giving her nightwear with an interesting sequence of sounds on an even more interesting spot on the pyjama pants. "Digging my ass, are we, B?"

Buffy blushed, Willow's lips curled, Xander looked on interested, waiting for Buffy's comeback, Joyce, just entering the living room with a plate of cookies and carefully ignoring Faith's choice of words, nonetheless seemed amused herself.

"Oh, please, that's nothing to get excited about," Buffy replied, quickly recovering from the initial shock, "mine fills pants way better. Even these."

Faith rose from the couch with a smirk on her lips. "Fine." Walking by Buffy, who was sitting in the armchair, she stopped briefly to, "Bite me," presenting her '_AWWWWM-num-num-num-num…' _to Buffy in the best possible way, pointing at it, before making a turn and walking past Joyce and out of the living room. "I'll go get changed," she announced her decision with a laugh.

Considering that it was almost 3 pm by now, the rest of the Scoobies soon followed suit.

By the time they finally left, it was already late afternoon. Willow and Xander headed straight home, while Faith stayed at Buffy's a little longer...her mission: going on patrol with the blonde, something she had done far toolittle in the last couple of weeks...at least by Slayer standards.

Patrol was of the normal. Seven vampires, each of them dusted within the blink of an eye, two demons, which required a little more attention and skill from the slayers. Eventually they won and carried away "trophies" in the form of bruises and gashes – Buffy having a wound on her upper arm and a bruise on her jaw, Faith having a cut on her forehead and a split lip.

Opening the front door to the Rosenberg's residence, Faith already knew damn well how Willow would react to her injuries. Any injuries, in fact. Shallow or not.

She hung up her jacket on the rack and discarded her boots, before entering the living room. Willow sat on the couch, intensely studying some papers in front of her. Upon hearing Faith approaching she looked up with a smile. "Hey, patrol went..." The question died on her lips, just like her smile, as she took in the wounds on Faith's face. Yeah, really not a bad wound, but still...

"It's nothing, Will," Faith tried to calm her, before Willow could even say anything.

But Willow had already gotten up from the couch. "Let me see," the redhead said as she approached, took Faith's face in her hands and examined it up close. Obviously feeling more pain than Faith herself, Willow ordered quietly, "Sit down. I'll get the first-aid kit."

"It'll be healed up in..."

"Sit. Down," Willow said again, this time with a little more force behind her words. Faith complied, trying for an apologetic smile...and this seemed to have an effect on Willow. She returned the smile in a gentle manner, her eyes seemed to whisper, _Let me do this, okay? _and Faith nodded in understanding."I'll be right back".

Faith knew Willow's maternal instinct had taken over again. Normal mommies wig out over even the tiniest scratch on their kids. And good surrogate moms would do that as well. Faith could live with the fact that she had two of that kind, even though one of them was a little more girlfriendish than the other one...and suddenly very disturbing, yet interesting thoughts regarding Joyce and 'girlfriendish' weaselled their way into her head and she shook it amused.

In any case, those two moms perfectly made up for the other she has had – the one who in the majority of cases had not been sober enough to care. Of course, in the majority of cases mommy herself had been responsible for little Faith's injuries...

Ignoring the though, her look fell onto the abundance of papers on the coffee table. It took her only a second to realize what they were about. Will's college brochures. As she scanned the forms and brochures, pride filled her, but at the same time anxiety – yet again. This topic was starting to trouble her more, since it wasn't that long to graduation anymore.

It was hard to say what all this this would mean for them, for her and Will, but she knew that she wouldn't want to stand in the way and wanted for Will to make the right decision, since this would be one of the most important ones in the redhead's life.

She picked up one of the brochures. Especially this one had caught her eyes, since she didn't seem to be able to read some parts of it. Simple reason – these parts weren't written in any language she knew. She only knew one language, for that matter, but that wasn't the issue.

She had made it half way through the something that looked like a name... '_Rheinisch Westfälische Techni---_' when Willow came back into the living room.

The redhead noticed her dropping the brochure, but didn't comment on it. Will sat down beside the slayer and opened her light-blue Snoopy-lunchbox-come-first-aid-kid.

Producing a package of band aids from the depths of the box, Willow asked, "Green, red or blue? I also have some with penguins on them. I don't have the boring normal ones...a-and I'm not sure they come in black yet, but maybe they do...guess I should go and check sometime..."

Faith noticed the babble and figured that it might have something to do with the brochures. "Red's fine, Red," Faith joked and brought a little smile to Willow's lips.

Red tore open the band-aid's paper, before leaning over and gently covering the cut on Faith's forehead with it. Then she took a tube of balm and dabbed some of it on Faith's lip.

Faith watched Willow's face, as this one attended to her wound. She couldn't read anything in it, Willow seemed to be solely focused on her task.

But Willow wasn't. She hadn't been surprised when she had checked the mailbox coming home and had found about half a dozen thick envelopes in it. It hadn't been the first time. She had wanted to use her Faith-free time to get a closer look at them. Because she knew that pretty soon she would have to make an important decision. It was bad enough that this was bothering her already, she hadn't wanted for Faith to wreck her brain about it as well...at least not yet. Maybe in a couple of days or weeks, but not now. Or...

But of course plans like these never work.

Putting the tube down, she bent forward, caressed Faith's cheek with her hand and put a soft kiss on the uninjured part of her lips.

When they broke apart, there was a smile on the slayer's face that matched Willow's. Serene, yet tense.

For a few moments, neither of them said a thing. Willow considered addressing the subject...though she really didn't want to. Not talking about it for now was always an option.

But how they had to do something... they couldn't sit here, staring at each other, without saying anything for all eternity...could they?

Faith, noticing Willow's unwillingness to talk about this just now, eventually thought of something else. "So, you have plans for tonight? Studying or something? Because there's a pretty cool movie on later...that I thought maybe we could..."

"Yeah. I mean, no...no studies. Of course we can watch that movie!" Willow replied, glad that Faith wasn't pressing her to talk about the other subject.

"Cool," Faith smiled, "so you get your papers sorted; I'll have something to take care of in my room" _and that's not even a lie. _

"Oh, okay. Want me to make something for dinner?"

"Only if you wanna...I'm not really that hungry today." Yes, a slayer is not always hungry after slaying...not even always horny. Weird.

"Guess we'll make it a very healthy popcorn, chips and coke dinner then. Plus, movie watching and all – perfect!" Willow grinned, liking her plan.

"Alrighty." Faith took the lunchbox out of Willow's hands. "I'll put it under the bed again. You do your stuff."

"Okay," Willow replied and watched Faith leaving the room.

*****

As promised, Faith stashed Willow's lunchbox under the bed and went into her room... to "take care of something"...

Actually there wasn't much to take care of, only two little things, but she wanted to give Will some time to sort through the mail on the coffee table. Categorizing it...or whatever Willow's plans for the broschures were.

Well, there were three things to care of, she noticed suddenly. Because...she didn't even have an idea which movie she wanted to watch later on...it had all been just a tangled web of lies.

And since she wasn't a walking TV programme, she didn't even know what _was_ on later or if any of the movies would be any good.

Believe it or not, she wasn't necessarily much of a movie watcher. Most of them couldn't draw her attention for too long. Often her mind drifted off after a good while, at times she would even fall asleep while watching and would wake up hours later to a snowy TV.

It had taken quite a bit of will power to not just do that last night. She could just see how that could have been like...falling asleep and soon after her head coming to a rest on Xan's shoulder, which had been in close proximity. Or...her falling asleep and starting to tackle Willow's leg with all her might...and making funny sleeping noises on top of that.

That would have been some Guur-REAT picture material...and would possibly have been embarrassing for some of the parties involved.

Speaking of picture...she remembered something and reached behind her in the back pocket of her jeans, where she pulled out the pic of Willow in her naughty little "Come as you aren't"-outfit. She walked over to her bedside table and opened the drawer to store the picture in it.

Doing this, her eyes immediately landed on the magic shop item she had purchased a couple of days ago. She picked it up and studied it. Now might be the perfect time to give it to Willow. No, "might" was more than an understatement. Faith nodded to herself and shut the drawer.

She was surprised when she heard Willow walking along the hall, into her own room. Was Will done with sorting her "thoughts" already? It couldn't have been five minutes, since she herself had exited the living room.

Apparently she was done, since she also didn't stay in her own room for longer than ten or fifteen seconds. And now she was already flitting along the hall again, but not heading for the living room again, but for the kitchen this time, it seemed...at least that's what her slayer hearing told her.

Seconds later, she heard the tearing of paper, something filled into a bowl and shortly after the humming sound of the microwave. Popcorn time.

Faith walked over to her closet and opened the door to pull out the second item she needed now. Grabbing the paper bag and looking inside, she suddenly wondered if this was really such a good idea. What if Willow didn't like it? What if she found it childish or stupid? What if she made fun of her for buying something like that? What if Willow saw this as a personal affront and thought Faith was making fun of _her _instead?

So many thoughts at once...her brain almost hurt.

She didn't even hear Willow nearing her room and sticking her head through the door. "Honey, I-I'm done with...my stuff. And the popcorn's finished as well, so we can..."

Faith quickly closed the bag to shield it from Willow's view, "Oh, okay, be right out."

Willow nodded with a smile and left again. As soon she was out of sight, she frowned slightly. Was that a 'Toys 'R'Us' bag she had seen in the slayer's hands?

*****

The redhead sat down in front of the steaming bowl of popcorn and the not-steaming one full of chips and waited for her girlfriend. What the hell was up with that bag and why had Faith looked so startled, when she had looked in to get her?

"Will, could you close your eyes, please?" she heard Faith's voice from the hall and, though fairly confused, complied. _Huh? Why confused? I guess she wants to surprise me...yeah, that's it...at least that would explain the bag..._

"Closed?" she heard the almost timid voice again and realized that she hadn't answered.

"Oh, sorry. Yes, closed," she informed quickly.

And then she heard the sound of footsteps coming closer and stopping beside her. She heard something paper-y being put on the ground and then felt the cushion beside her give.

A very warm hand got hold of her left one and she felt how something metallic was being placed in her palm. It could not have been bigger than maybe an inch in diameter and a leather strap seemed to be attached to one side.

"Open up," Faith ordered and Willow complied. She couldn't see what it was she was holding in her hand, since Faith had it still covered with her own. "So...I guess I wanted to give you something to reciprocate for your willingness to put up with me..."

'_Willingness to put up with her?!' _Willow's mind seemed to protest against the implication that having Faith with her was a chore first and foremost. "Fai...," she started but was interrupted.

"Okay, I'll take that back and say 'for you letting me stay with you'." Noticing that again Willow opened her mouth to say something, "and don't you protest now either...I know what you wanna say."

Willow nodded and kept her mouth shut.

"It really means a lot to me that you wanted me here. And not only as a roomie, but as a girlfriend." She stopped and smirked at the word and Willow joined in. "A-And I know that not everyone would have welcomed me back with open arms after what I've done...," she lowered her eyes.

The redhead knew what she was talking about. It wasn't just the almost-killing...which admittedly had been the scariest thing ever...but also the days before this. Taking off and leaving Willow to wake up alone in the empty motel room. Avoiding her the following days. Deliberately hurting her just to make her go away.

Willow put her free hand on Faith's thigh and shook her head in an 'It doesn't matter any more' gesture. Faith smiled gratefully and continued. "So, I wanted to show you how much all this – and you – mean to me."

She lifted her hand to reveal the item she had placed in Willow's palm earlier. It turned out to be an amulet, Celtic in origin. Willow had seen something like this one before.

"It's for protection," Faith confirmed what Willow already knew. "Since I know that you're Jewish, a cross would probably have been a pretty stupid idea."

"Just a little," Willow chimed in jokingly and lightened Faith's mood.

"Plus, this one's even better. It protects you from any kind of demon, not just your run-of-the-mill vampire...And it's not one of those you'd find in any gumball machine, it's actually enchanted, so it really _does _have protective power...I hope you like it. If not, not a problem, we could go to the magic shop and look for another one. They have even more, you know...maybe there's one you'd like..."

"Faith, stop, I like it. Really!" she gave the insecure girl a loving hug. "Thank you."

"You'll...always think of me when you wear it...right?" a timid slayer-voice whispered into her ear and Willow simply held on tighter.

"Hm, don't you think you're monopolizing enough of my thinking-time as it is?" Willow laughed and tickled Faith's sides with her fingers.

Faith chuckled and disentangled herself from Willow. Behind the fairly amused expression, a hint of seriousness still remained. It seemed really important to her.

"Of course I'll think of you," she said with all sincerity. And found it surprising how such a little promise could spark off so much joy in someone else's eyes. She handed Faith the amulet again and motioned for her to fasten it around her neck. While the brunette was doing just this, another thought crossed Willow's mind. "But you know what? I'd not be a bad idea to get one of those for you too..."

"Hey, Red, I'm a big bad slayer...," Faith started to protest.

"...that likes to get herself in trouble every now and again...," Willow added with a meaningful look. She had not forgotten about the I'll-go-look-up-that-demon-all-by-myself-incident from last Friday yet.

Faith made an indefinable grunting noise and pouted.

"But I mean it. I...want to get you something as well," the redhead confessed.

"No...you don't have to...I have _you_, I don't really need anything else." _God, that was schmaltzy..._

Even Willow noticed this and gave her an odd look.

"Anyway...," Faith laughed, "close your eyes again. Because that was only half of your present..."

Willow quickly did as she was asked. She was dying to find out what was in the 'Toys 'R'Us' bag that Faith had most likely brought with her to the living room.

Seconds later she felt the plush-y material of a stuffed animal against her hands. Faith took one of them and positioned thumb and index finger around something that appeared to be a hand of the stuffed animal...or whatever you called that specific part on the respective animal.

"Now press that little button in there and you'll find out what it is," Faith's voice sounded almost excited.

Willow did, and hearing a clearly frog-like croak, opened her eyes in shock.

An enormous frog...well, 'enormous' depending on your definition, was staring back at her.

It had its arms held; two big, big eyes twinkled at her. A giant smile grazed its frog-lips, adorned with a tongue that was sticking out between them. From what Willow could tell, its cheeks were inflatable and most likely fluffed up, once someone pressed the button in the frog's hand.

And that was what Faith was doing – this time herself. "See?" she looked down at the frog fascinated, watching how it bloated its cheeks, "isn't that just the coolest?"

But she didn't get the answer she was expecting. Instead she had to watch helplessly, as Willow ran from the living room and almost slammed a door shut seconds later.

*****

"Wha...Will?" Faith asked befuddled and following Willow, with frog in her arm, wherever the redhead had run off to.

"Put that away...," came the little voice from Faith's room.

"Wait, what...the frog?" Faith's heart sank. She had no idea how, but somehow the frog had upset the redhead. She should have known that she was no good at giving presents.

Not that she had done it all too often in her life. The last time had been Christmas at the Summers' house three months ago...She still remembered her supposedly "crappy" gifts wrapped in newspaper. A watch for Buffy and some mystery novel for Joyce. She had had no idea what to buy the two women, she hadn't had much money, but she also hadn't wanted to turn up on their footsteps empty-handed.

She had seen Buffy wear the watch occasionally, but didn't know if it was just an act of courtesy or not. She couldn't say much for Joyce and the novel. Truth be told, she was still feeling insecure about her gift-choices, old and new ones.

"Willie-baby, please…come out...please? I-I'm sorry..." What she was apologizing for, she didn't know; her guess was that Willow really thought she was making fun of her.

"I-Is the frog gone?" Willow was standing right behind the door, from what Faith could hear.

"I'll put it on the top shelf in my closet, okay? You'll never have to look at it again...?"

"O-Okay." The voice sounded relieved.

"But that means you have to let me in there…," Faith stated the obvious.

The door opened slowly and Willow stepped out, keeping a clear safety distance to Faith and the stuffed animal.

Faith entered the room and hid the froggy in the backmost corner of her closet, before returning to the living room, in which Willow was already standing with an apologetic look on her face.

Willow waited till they were face to face to pull Faith into a tight hug. "I'm sorry," she mumbled into the slayer's shoulder.

_Hey, I thought that's my text, _Faith pondered as she returned the gesture.

*****

They had stood like for some time, before settling down on the couch. Willow didn't explain her behavior and Faith didn't push; she'd find out about it somehow.

Tonight seemed to be the night of tiptoeing around rather than addressing subjects directly. And that was okay too.

They ate a bit of "dinner" and zapped their way through various channels until they reached a comedy that seemed remotely appealing. Faith feigned interest and pretended that this had been the one she had wanted to watch, but Willow at least saw through_ that_ scheme of hers and knew that Faith most likely couldn't care less about what they were going to watch. The brunette admitted this readily and they both laughed.

Lying down on the couch and snuggling up, they kept on watching, however. Halfway into it, Willow indeed seemed rather intrigued by the movie. Faith, on the other hand...had nodded off after about half an hour.

During commercial break, Willow turned around in Faith's ever-protective arms to get a better look at her girlfriend.

She caressed Faith's faintly maltreated face; the cut in her lip was almost healed up by now and she figured her forehead would look similar soon.

The redhead knew that she'd have to wake Faith at some point and make her go to bed...the bed in the room without the frog!

She felt stupid somehow, but it seemed hard for her to shake that fear. She thought about trying to overcome it...Who knew how many keepsakes she would get from Faith and how long she would have Faith herself.

Her college admission packets and the on-coming decision about where to go after graduation were constant reminders of the fact that together-time might be shorter than anticipated.

And yes, she'd get Faith a keepsake of her as well. At least this way Faith would not forget her in case she'd decide to go off and study in Europe or Australia or God-knows-where.

Right now she didn't even know where she wanted to go; but she knew that Faith would have to stay here. Would a long-distance relationship work for them? Would they even try to make one work?

She was worried.

And looking into Faith's face, she could see some of her worry reflected in it.

_to be continued..._


	42. Lessons learned in love

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** See you in two weeks ;)  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

* * *

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO --- LESSONS LEARNED IN LOVE

Willow had woken Faith up, when the movie had ended. The slayer had seemed fairly disoriented at first and even more embarrassed. But the witch had simply smiled at this endearing mannerism and had put Faith's mind at ease with a reassuring kiss.

After brushing their teeth and changing into less cute and especially less Elmo-y-childlike nightwear, they went to Willow's frog-free room and off to bed. Upon having reached their final destination, they snuggled up close together again and snoozed the rest of the night away.

The next morning – after Faith's unsuspectingly drinking Willow's special coffee brew, although Willow hadn't even made the coffee herself this time, but had mixed caffeinated and decaf by now – they made an early appearance at the library. There wasn't any real reason, they just felt like it.

But to their surprise, they weren't the only ones, who were there early...or maybe the two Englishmen sitting at the big wooden table were simply "late", in a different sense of the word. They looked like they had been up all night, most likely even longer.

As it turned out, they were still studying the Books of Ascension and other reference material and were writing down the most important facts. Their notes were pretty long already, but according to Wesley they were almost done with looking through them.

They would have been done earlier, hadn't Wesley not still gone on his date with Cordelia. He profusely apologized for this, maybe he just regretted the fact that the date had happened in the first place. Willow and Faith ignored his apologies and sat down to look over the watchers' notes.

Which wasn't that easy. Giles' handwriting was tiny…letters squeezed together, minimal gaps between the words. Wesley's was not much better. Faith figured it was either a watcher thing or a British thing…just because her first watcher's notes hadn't looked much different.

Willow did most of the reading, while Faith told the watchers about her and Buffy's getting into a bit of a not really serious scrape on patrol last night. She was almost sad that she didn't have to wear Reddie's red band-aid anymore. Of course she didn't say this, just squeezed Willow's thigh under the table.

But the redhead was way too busy reading to jump terrified. There were some details in the watchers' notes that did not quite add up. Giles…no, wait, Wesley said that they were still missing some information about certain things and hoped that Mr Finch would help them out in tomorrow night's meeting.

Soon after Buffy showed up, as scratchless as Faith, thanks to slayer healing. Wesley basically ran into her on his way out. The watchers were done with their research-(non)-sleepover-party and he needed to get home. Sleep. And take a shower, maybe…he wasn't too keen on doing that in the school. Giles, however, wasn't that lucky, but with Faith being here as his little helper, he was sure that he would at least get some hours of sleep in during "office hours".

Bad, bad librarian…

Naturally Giles excused himself and went into his office to rest his eyes for a bit. Resting, not sleeping, since there were still three teenage girls out there in his library, talking, giggling and doing other not necessarily quiet things…G-rated not-necessarily-quiet things, of course!

Faith lived up to her newly-acquired rep as library fairy and did…whatever librarians do on early Monday mornings. Organizing things, looking if anything needed shelving or re-shelving. Mostly she just walked through the stacks, while listening to Buffy and Willow doing their girly-best-friend-thing.

Well, actually it was more Willow relaying to Buffy what she had read in the watchers' notes. Buffy listened as best as she could. Though early mornings didn't sit all that good with her. Instead…again and again her eyes fell on…_shiny!_...the seemingly new amulet dangling from Willow's neck.

Once Willow was done with explaining, the blonde asked her about it. All excited that Buffy had actually noticed, the little wicca happily told her the story about how Faith had given it to her and why. However, she edited the part about the frog out.

Faith didn't mind. Standing behind one of the shelves, her heart swelled with pride at the fact that Willow _really _seemed to like her present. She already thought of a way to find out about Will and her apparent frog-o-phobia.

In his office, Giles had listened to Willow's explanation as well and smiled his approval of Faith's choice in gifts.

* * *

Soon after the girls – the blonde and the redhead – left for class, while the brunette stayed behind and read her way through some – for her – interesting textbooks.

At some point – Faith figured it must be some time between classes – Cordelia happened to stop by. She was looking for something…that apparently wasn't there. Giles was by now sleeping in his office, didn't hear her "Hello-o?", Faith was…

Cordy wandered through the stacks, looking for... She was startled by the slayer who stood right behind a shelf, leaning against it, reading a book. The younger brunette didn't just stand there accidentally.

"Hey, CC, looking for something?" Faith asked nonchalantly, having a mild idea what the 'something' was. Cordelia barely suppressed a startled yelp, while the slayer continued, not even looking up. "Maybe I can help you. Let me guess…it's tall, dark, stuffy…and British, maybe? Oh, and doesn't go by the name Giles?" she looked up with a not all nice-and-helpful smirk.

Faith seemed to be on the right track, she noticed, as Cordelia replied with a snippy, "And what are you doing here in the library again? I didn't even know that you _could_ read…"

"Well, maybe I can't and am just desperately trying to find books with pictures in them," Faith countered slickly. She held up her picture-free book for Cordelia to see.

"Ah, I think you can find the comic books in the section on children's literature."

Faith chuckled, only mildly amused. She thought the other brunette could do better than that.

"Whatever," Cordelia sighed, exasperated at Faith's smugness. "Have you seen him or not?"

"He went home about three hours ago," Faith replied. "Seems like Giles and he were here all weekend, looking through the Books of Ascension. Well, except for that bit where he went on a date with you, huh?" she smirked again.

"Oh," Cordelia murmured, ignoring Faith's latest jab.

The slayer watched as the other girl and dropped her act. Queen C seemed to be honestly disappointed at the watcher's not-being-here right now. Could stiff and uptight Wimpy _really _be _that_ interesting a guy? "You really dig him, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess I'm…," but suddenly Cordelia remembered, who exactly was standing in front of her, "…not really planning on discussing my love life with you," she rolled her eyes and headed back out of the stacks.

Thinking about it, "Fine. Me neither," Faith grabbed the book she had been reading and followed the other girl.

Of course, she had been referring to Cordelia and Wesley. The brunette, however… "I guess you don't even have one…at least, considering non-sexual stuff."

"Says you," Faith added, maybe not even meaning anything by it.

"Oh, please, I can't see anyone staying with your for longer than a night or two. And if they do, they must be pretty dense, 'cuz one can see from three miles away that you'd screw up every attempt of a relationship…more sooner than later."

Silence.

That hurt.

Not only because Faith knew about her history of screwing up. And she feared to do it again ever single day – she had almost screwed up her relationship with Willow several times, before it had even really begun…

But also because Cordelia had just managed to insult Willow without even knowing it! Offending her – fine, but messing with _her_ Reddie…

Faith had to fight her emotions. She was so very close to doing something stupid. Like scratching Queen C's eyes out or…telling her everything.

About Willow and how she had made the hard decision of breaking up with Oz to be with… _her_. About meek, but still oh-so-strong little Woodstock supporting her cause and wanting to live with Lucy/Peppermint Patty, and not only because they were a couple. About Willow loving her unconditionally. About the last couple of weeks being the happiest of her life – just because of that. About her fearing that all this would end, once Willow started college.

She wouldn't even mind Giles sleeping not twenty feet away from them and the possibility of him hearing her confession.

Cordelia backed away. Faith's pressed together lips, the hand that was gripping the backrest of one of the chairs at the big wooden table dangerously tight and the eyes that seemed to shoot burning stakes at the library floor right this moment, told her that she might have gone a bit too far.

Was Faith in a relationship…?

True, she couldn't see Faith in a relationship. But maybe she was just wrong about it. Not that she had thought much about the slayer's love life per se.

She had just never seen Faith as someone who could love another person. Or as something who could feel more than just plain lust.

"Sorry," she backpaddled and watched Faith, whose stance apparently wasn't about to change any time soon. Not knowing what else to say and – to be honest – simply wanting to get out of here, she continued, "Look, I gotta go…so, if you see him, tell him that I was looking for him…?"

"Whatever," Faith repeated Cordelia's phrasing, not particularly inclined to listen to Cordelia any longer.

"Okay," Cordy replied, still feeling somewhat sorry. Without saying anything more, she exited the library quickly.

Faith stood by the table a while longer – a very long while longer – before slowly sitting down. Two tactless brunettes alone in one room…she should have known this could, no would only lead to…well, this.

She shook her head, opened her book and began to read. Though her thoughts were not really on the historical details in the volume, but rather on the little girl wearing her amulet.

* * *

Xander closed his book with a relieved sigh. Finally this lesson was over for today. History – he hated it. He rather lived in the now than in the way-back-then. Thinking about it, the present could be equally as cruel and fight-for-your-life-like as the past, so it sort of made no difference.

The blonde…no, wait, the…this-week-some-kind-brunette next to him was way more history-inclined. Not really surprising – she had witnessed some of it herself, had even _made _history sometimes.

As they walked out of class, Anya yet again told him one of the many, many… "fascinating" stories about her life as vengeance demon – which were much less fun than Faith's stories about nakedness and wrestling alligators, as far as Xander – and most likely the common populace – was concerned. And whereas Faith's stories at times seemed like tall tales…Anya's all seemed to be true.

By now he had heard tons of stories about all kinds of punishments inflicted on unfaithful or otherwise evil men…and many of them made him wonder how much one (woman) could possibly hate a man…well, the times he had not been inwardly yelping in sympathy pain and/or mentally clutching…certain parts of his body, anyway.

The talk about dimensions was more interesting. Whoever was responsible for creating this world…or 'these worlds' rather, seemed to have a weird and twisted sense of humor.

The world without shrimp, the Crazy Melting Land and the world of Perpetual Wednesday aside…some of them even defied categories like 'creepy', 'totally whack' and 'oh, get out…!'

But ignoring Anya's disquieting babbling and constantly reminding himself that her days as a vengeance demon were over, Xander couldn't shake the ever-increasing feelings he had for her. And he could see that she returned them.

Her face lit up visibly every time he was close and she took interest in his likings…as much as a 'girl', who has been around for over thousand years and has seen equally as many trends and ideas come and go could.

She didn't always get him, he often had a hard time listening to her stories. But as weird and unusual as this coupling might appear…maybe there could really happen something sometime… if one of them got a move on, that is.

* * *

Another weird and unusual couple, "the perfect match" of Sunnydale High finished up its latest private lesson and walked through one of the school's halls. Her vampire double had really helped her out with him, she figured. Willow had never thought Percy could be that 'eager' to learn and do his best to remain in her good graces. She almost didn't have to do any work herself any more.

And they had started to become chummy. Not best-friends-chummy, but at least they were also talking about something else than just school. For example Percy's favorite topic…

"So, is she here today?" he asked Willow, raising his head to scan the crowd for the girl in question.

Willow smiled inwardly, having by now learned to keep both her jealousy and her nervousness about talking about that specific girl with him under control.

It wasn't like some part of her wasn't at least a little bit proud at Faith leaving _that_ big an impression.

"I don't know," she white-lied expertly. Even if she was only mildly jealous, she still didn't need him in the library, hitting on her…wait, Xander's girlfriend.

"Which grade is she in, actually? Can't remember seeing her in class."

"Well, uh," Willow started, thinking about how to answer that question. Every time she thought about Faith in connection with school, a twinge of guilt hit her. She knew that Faith had dropped out a couple of years ago, way before her watcher had showed up and had taken her in. But Faith wouldn't want to talk about the actual reasons for this and Willow had not pushed any further. Part of her figured that Faith's dropping out had not happened because the slayer was simply too lazy or the subject matter too hard for her – she knew her girl; and she knew she was _much _smarter than most people thought, "she's not in school, really…" This wasn't even a lie and she was surprised that Snyder hadn't gotten suspicious yet. He _had _seen Faith here a couple of times, had even talked to her once.

Percy did a double take, which Willow hadn't seen coming. "She's graduated already? Wow, she must be really clever. She doesn't look old enough to be out of school already. Or is she older than I think?"

Willow shrugged with a smile, indicating that he wouldn't get to hear the answers from her anytime soon.

* * *

The mysterious girl was about five pages into her book, which surprisingly had at least _some _pictures in it, when Giles came out of his office.

"Oh, hey, Giles," a still somewhat depressed and/or pissed-off Faith greeted. "Sorry, did we wake you just now?"

"No, no," Giles negated, though Faith's assumption was correct. He had overheard the last bit of the girls' conversation, and felt sorry for the young brunette, but he tried not to let it show. As far as he knew, she didn't know that he knew about her and Willow. And he didn't think that she would appreciate him pitying her.

She looked the still tired-looking librarian over and decided something was in order to wake him up fully. But what would wake an Englishman up? "Want some tea?" she asked and stood up instantly.

"Coffee, rather, yes?" he smiled at her benignly.

"Cool," she grinned and quickly went where he had come from less than a minute ago – his office – to brew some of the not-very-British-what-drinking-habits-is-concerned-beverage.

Giles sat down on the edge of the table and looked down at the book the slayer had been reading. It was a book on the History and Geography of America. Somehow this seemed to be Faith's favorite subject; last week she had shown him a book on the same matter.

"You seem to be very interested in this topic," he stated, as Faith still brewed the coffee.

"Oh, yeah," Faith confirmed. "I mean," she pressed the 'on'-button on the machine, "the geography stuff is cool; history…depends on the era. I'm not too keen on the contemporary stuff, as bad as that sounds."

"No, I can understand that," he nodded, still smiling, as she came back into the main room.

"And what about other subjects?"

"Oh, well, I guess, I was good at mathematical stuff back in…," she stopped short of the word 'school', "…it depends in _which _math it is, though. I liked geometry. Natural sciences are pretty okay. I never really got into languages or anything artsy," she explained as she leaned her butt against the table, next to where he was sitting. "Guess _that _half of my brain is underdeveloped," she laughed and Giles laughed along with her.

"Now, Faith," he suddenly became more serious. He figured he had done enough beating around the school-bush, "I think you remember the little talk about school we had last week." The talk that had shown him that she wanted to go back…she only needed the chance.

"Uh-huh," she was all-ears due to his change of mood and the fact that he addressed their conversation. She watched as he stood up again and faced her directly.

"Erm," he cleared his throat, "I have had a talk with Wesley about this subject. I made him open negotiations with the council and have interlocutions with the council's psychiatrist. And based on your psychological assessment, Mr. Caulfield's evaluation of your case and material concerned with your previous academic…"

Faith was sitting on the edge of her chair…or in her case, leaning forward from where she was hardly even touching the table anymore right this moment. The suspense was killing her. Leaving his irritating long-windedness aside…was he about to say…

Giles caught her anxious look and shortened the rest of his report, cutting to the most important part. "We… have found a way to get you back into school."

Faith's face looked as if the girl wasn't sure what she should respond to this, and Giles had no idea if this was a good or a bad.

_to be continued..._

* * *

A/N: Hm, Faith... and school? What are the odds? And don't worry, Faith will learn about Willow's frog fear. As always, I hope you liked it ;)


	43. Geeker Joy

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** See you in two weeks ;)  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

* * *

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE --- GEEKER JOY

"What?" Faith asked, fairly disbelieving. She had expected this somehow…considering Giles' terribly long monologue, but now it was here.

Giles continued slowly, knowing that the girl probably had to get over the initial shock first.

"The council has agreed with me…us on the fact that it is imperative in modern times to receive a proper education. Even for a slayer."

Faith knew what he was implying. The expiration date of a slayer…most of them didn't even live to see their twentieth birthday. She herself only knew of a handful, who had lived longer than that. Buffy having died already seemed to prove that point.

"And as far the Council is concerned, you could resume your school career as early as at the beginning of the next school year – well, depending on decisions of the school board, but the Council is confident that they won't cause much trouble."

Faith's face lit up somewhat at the prospect of going back to school. "Wait, but how will you know where to put me…" She had a feeling that Giles and his Council 'buddies' knew that she had dropped out mid eight grade.

Giles had anticipated this question apparently. "An assessment test will be held in a few weeks' time to see, in which grade to fit you. From what Mr. Caulfield estimated, you definitely won't have to start out in eight grade," he smiled at her with gentle eyes.

"So…did you just plan all this while reading in the books?" she pointed over at the big volumes still resting on the table. She seriously wondered when he had found the time – within preparing for the next possible doom's day – to deal with _her _and _her _academic wellbeing.

"No, no, we've been working on for some time," he replied, even if that still meant, only since last week. "You will be provided with books to prepare for the test and additionally I will get you a library card so you can check out books as well."

"But I'm not a student here."

"Faith, I'm the librarian. I can do that without anyone ever knowing about it," he added in a conspiratorial voice.

Faith smirked, joining him in his fun. The thought about her terribly normal life gave her smirk an additional boost. Soon she would be back in school, now she already had some pretty close friends, she had a surrogate mom, maybe even something akin to a dad, a 'job' that kept her busy during the day, a real home and…a girlfriend.

Giles studied her face closely. The smirk had gradually turned into a frown. He had an idea what she might be thinking about.

"So, where would I go to school?" she asked, her voice suddenly tiny and apprehensive. She knew she couldn't expect him to say 'anywhere you want'.

"Well, most likely…one of Sunnydale's high schools, maybe even this one. At last resort, home schooling, which would, however, also have to take place near the…um, Hellmouth." He knew this was not exactly what Faith wanted to hear; but he also knew that she was aware of her responsibility.

And as hard as this might sound – in the Council's eyes she was still first and foremost a slayer, not a teenager in love with someone who might not be here anymore once she started school. Giles, of course, made the 'teenager' a priority, or at least he wanted to try his best.

Faith put on an understanding face and nodded.

"So, what do you say?" he asked kindly, "are you ready to go back?"

She smiled bravely and uttered, "Yeah," before – ignoring the school's etiquette, the (non)watcher-slayer relationship and her own not-so-badass-anymore attitude – approaching Giles and his outstretched arms and stepping into the both welcoming and welcome hug.

She would be going back to school. She had wanted this for so long. And it made her happy that it finally happened now. If only that didn't mean an uncertain future for her and Will…with her as a slayer, life was uncertain enough already.

Faith let herself be held by Giles for a minute. She could not entirely understand the empathy in his embrace.

* * *

On their way down the hall, Willow and Percy ran into Xander, who had just said goodbye to his new love interest.

He accompanied them – or rather Willow – on their way to class, which was in the same direction as his next stop.

And as they trotted along the wall and Percy watched the two best friends, the still-somewhat-jealous man in his head wondered for the hundredth time in the last few days, how the hell Xander – the annoyingly funny buddy-type with the weird dress style – ever managed to get his hands on hot chicks like Cordelia and Faith.

* * *

"Hey... What's up with _you_?" Buffy asked stunned, as she came into the library and saw Giles and Faith…_cuddling? I mean, I knew she had a thing for him, but…oh, bad Buffy! It's nothing like that…right?_

"Oh, sorry," Giles blushed profusely when he released Faith from his fatherly embrace. The young slayer sniffled a little and wiped some barely-there tears from her cheek.

_Oh…maybe I should have asked what's up with her. _"Faith?" she approached the younger girl hesitantly. She didn't know what was going on here, but an almost Faith crying couldn't be a good thing, could it? "Is everything okay?"

"I guess…I'm," Faith heaved a sigh before breaking into a smallish-big grin, "going back to school!" she laughed and at Buffy's perplex look continued, "his fault," she said and patted Giles' arm appreciatively.

The Englishman smiled kindly, but then had trouble catching a book that Buffy was throwing in his arms on her way to the brunette slayer. "Oh, my, GOD, Faith!!!" the blonde threw her arms around the other slayer in an even for slayer-bodies almost bone-crushing hug. "That's AWESOME!

_Never thought B could be __that__ excited about school…but maybe it's the vicarious thing…_ Faith thought as she tried not to suffocate.

Finally B let up but did not release her fully. "When? Right now? Right away?" the blonde beamed, grabbing Faith's forearms.

"No, no, you can take your time buying me a first-day-of-school-present…," Faith replied, "I'll start again at the beginning of next school year."

"Oh," Buffy's smile faltered just a little. "But still…I'm happy for you!" it returned. "And you know who else'll be happy!?"

Faith shook her head, no.

"Will, Faith! I have a class with her right now!" Buffy almost exploded in joy. "I could go right now and tell her…"

"NO!" Faith denied this vehemently, shocking Buffy and making an otherwise motionless Giles almost drop the book startled. "I mean…I wanna tell her. Later. At home. Okay?"

Buffy's shoulders slumped at her missed chance at telling _THE _academically-inclined member of Team Scooby…well, apart from Giles, who knew already…about this herself. But of course it made sense to her on second thought.

"Right. You're right," the blonde shook her head. "Look, I gotta go anyway. But I'll talk to you later about this, okay? At the training, after school? Or patrol? Or both!" her face lit up again at the prospect of at least quizzing Faith about the subject some more.

B – an almost bursting bag of rapidly changing emotions…at least today.

The older slayer didn't wait for a reply from her colleague as she turned around and headed for the door, "Giles, you know what to do with the book, right?"

_Actually…_, Giles thought. He had a faint idea Buffy wanted to return it, but he wasn't sure.

On her way to leave, Buffy ran into Xander, who just then decided to set foot into the library.

"FaithsgoingbacktoschoolWerenotallowedtotellWillFaithwantstotellherGottagoSeeya!" she rushed out before she…well, rushed out.

It made Faith worry if the blonde could really keep this secret and not spill it to Will right away. It wasn't like she wanted to spoil B's fun. But the topic was delicate; Faith didn't know how Willow really would react and she didn't know how she would react to Willow's reaction. And if B or Xan or Giles were with them once Willow found out…their emotions might come out differently than when alone.

"Wait, wha…," a very confused Xander stuttered in gone-Buffy's direction.

"The short version – I'm going back to school," Faith enlightened him, figuring that's all the young man wanted and needed to know.

"Oh," Xander nodded gratefully yet solemnly. Somehow he seemed less enthusiastic than his blonde friend. "So, want me to congratulate or commiserate you?" he grinned as he walked over to her. Meanwhile Giles handled the return of Buffy's book.

"Well, I'm starting again come next school year…I'll probably have made my decision by then," she winked.

"Does Will know already?"

_Funny how everyone automatically thinks of my Reddie when it's about school…, _Faith smirked. "No, no yet. I wanna tell her tonight."

"Cool, cool," Xander replied, while producing a piece of paper from his pant pocket and starting for the stacks.

_While we're on the subject…Will…, _Faith had an idea. A yawning Giles went over to pour himself some coffee and she figured he wouldn't need her here right now.

"Xan, can I ask you a question?" she asked and followed the young man.

Xander looked down at the little piece of paper on which he had scribbled the index code of the book in question and replied absent-mindedly, "Sure."

"Um…okay," Faith prepared for what she wanted to tell him, "so yesterday I gave Will some presents…you know, to thank her for letting me stay with her…"

"Hey, that's great," Xander smiled before turning back to the shelves.

Faith shrugged, "Not sure that she thinks that as well".

Looking around confused, obviously not knowing where to look for his book exactly, he asked absently, "Why?"

"Well, I bought her a little talisman, for protection, you know," she continued and followed her friend through the stacks, "and she liked it. But…I guess the frog was a bad idea…"

"Frog?" he asked, stopping again, searching, making Faith almost run into him.

"I mean, here I am, plucking up all the courage I can muster to set foot in a toy store and buy this…and she runs away…panicking," the slayer explained, her emotions resurfacing, somewhere between huffed, confused and sad.

"Ah…," Xander got it and faced her again. The poor uninformed girl looked at him, hoping for an explanation. Though he secretly smirked at the idea of the dark slayer in a toy shop, rummaging through dozens of shelves with stuffed animals, he tried to keep a straight face, since the girl was obviously troubled about Willow's reaction. "How big?"

Faith held up her hands and demonstrated how big the frog in question was…Understatement. She made it look about one fourth smaller than it actually was.

"And did it croak or something?"

"Uh-huh…," Faith replied, observing him carefully, "just a little…," she added almost apologetically. His look made her question the well-intention of her present more and more. _Yeah, I really stepped into it…_

"See, the thing is," Xander leaned against one of the shelves, getting ready for the explanation for Willow's phobia, "about one and a half year ago…we had a little frog problem. I can't really remember what went wrong. Buffy had encountered a _horde_ of some weird demon species on patrol. And she had told Giles about it, and he said he knew that species and that there was a spell to get rid of them."

"And it didn't work?" Faith asked, still confused about what this would have to do with Willow's frog problem.

"Well, we never really found out what happened to the demons, exactly. We never saw them again after the spell. So it might have worked…but it had side effects, though, I guess."

"How so?" _Dammit, could we come to the frog thing some time soon, please?!_ She was starting to get impatient.

"The second the spell was done, about a dozen things popped up around us that looked like your everyday frog…only they were about twenty times bigger and had an extremely weird croak. Long story short – one of them jumped Willow before any of us could react."

"What?! But it didn't hurt her…did it?" she asked rather anxiously, finally understanding what the issue was.

"Nah," he almost smiled at that note, "it just sat there on top of her. I don't think it wanted to do anything to her. They all actually seemed pretty harmless. Maybe this one just really liked Will…"

"Hm…," Faith almost smirked, _can't blame it…_

"But still…Willow had had plenty of time to get terribly scared by the time Buffy managed to pull it off her."

"Yeah, I get that now," the brunette nodded, her amusement fading somewhat. "Am I stupid?" she asked, already thinking about returning the present.

"No, not stupid," he scratched his chin, halfway at turning his concentration to the books again. "Let's just say you learned something important."

Faith noticed that his attention was slipping again and snatched the little piece of paper from him. But before he could even start to protest, she had already gone up into a different aisle, leaving him no other choice than to follow her.

"Guess I should have picked a little doggie or something, huh?" she gave him a weak smile as she pulled the book he had been looking for out of a shelf.

"Well, maybe," he smiled back, accepting the book readily, "but I think she'll get over it."

"Okay," Faith added relieved. "But…just in case, anything else Will-o-phobia-related I should know about?" she asked while walking them out of the stacks.

He put an arm around her shoulder and grinned almost mischievously. "Wanna have lunch? On me?"

* * *

Faith listened carefully as Xander explained to her about Willow's phobias in the school's cafeteria. Mostly because she didn't want to make another mistake, but also because she realized there were still things that she didn't know about her honey yet.

He also explained about how they had actually gotten rid of the frogs…which itself might have added to Willow's fear. Understandably.

During the whole time, people around them occasionally glanced their way. Maybe wondering who Faith was and what she was doing here. Or if she and Xander were dating. Or…how she possibly managed to stuff two burritos, three hotdogs and a big bowl of Jell-O into her like it was nothing.

Xander and his pasta next to her looked rather meagre. But maybe he just regretted inviting Faith to lunch and couldn't afford more for himself…

* * *

With Willow having spent her lunch break tutoring Percy and being fairly busy for the rest of the day, the lovers didn't really get to see each other. Except for that short time Willow stopped by at the library. They managed to sneak in a few kisses in the stacks, before Buffy showed up in her training gear and Willow headed home to get some work done.

The slayers trained for a few hours, before it was time for them to go on patrol. All the while Buffy pressed Faith for more info about her going-back-school-soon, but the brunette couldn't tell her _that _much more herself.

But this didn't keep the blonde from talking on excitedly.

"If you'll go to Sunnydale, try to stay away from Mrs. Ferguson's classes; she's a drag and always had it in for me…don't know why. Oh, but Mr. Jameson is cool…if you like arts. Do you like arts? There's also Mr. Munroe for…

"B, your babbling is scaring the vamps off…," Faith laughed and pointed her stake at one vamp about 100 feet away, who was indeed scampering off.

"Oh…"

Faith aimed her stake and flung it at the vamp, dusting him. Buffy watched the scene rather impressed. The brunette simply shrugged, "Anyway, you ready to go home? Four cemeteries is enough for one night, yeah?"

Looking around the current cemetery one last time and seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Buffy agreed with a nod.

"Still wish I could be there when you tell her! She's gonna be so excited!"

"You think?" Faith smirked.

"But you'll tell me everything tomorrow, right?" Buffy insisted and Faith nodded automatically. The question was if she'd really tell the blonde everything. Bad things could happen that she wouldn't want Buffy to know…but also good things – B definitely needn't to know about _these_…

Buffy walked Faith to her home, still or again babbling on about Faith and school, which provoked the brunette to asking the question, "Why are you this excited? It's not like you're gonna be there to witness my failures..."

"Who knows? Maybe I'll deliberately fail my classes, just to be there!"

"Well, that's up to you; I won't stop you," the brunette grinned again, slowing her walk. "Well, here's my stop."

"Cool. See ya tomorrow, then!" Buffy replied and kept on walking, "Have fun with Will!" she added with a gleeful look, that didn't mean anything besides scholarly joy.

_to be continued..._


	44. Facing my fear?

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** See you in two weeks ;)  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

* * *

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR --- FACING MY FEAR?

"Honey, I'm home…," Faith exclaimed, as she opened the front door of the Rosenberg home with her very own key and let herself in.

She wasn't bothered by not hearing anything and headed for the kitchen to find something to eat. A little something, since again she wasn't that hungry. 'Hungry and Horny' – myth schmyth. A schmyth made up by her. But maybe back then it hadn't been that much of a schmyth.

She couldn't really explain the lack of hungriness…well, okay, maybe today it was the enormous lunch she had had and for which she felt somewhat sorry now. Poor Xander. Poor Xander's money.

But the hungry-thing didn't bother her…

The horny-thing, however…

Was she getting old? Or was it this being in a relationship that made her not constantly want sex? Maybe that was it. She didn't need to prove anything to herself or anyone anymore. And it felt okay, almost relieving.

But of course that didn't mean that…the lust didn't overcome her at times. Or Willow. Or both of them. Which was good. Because getting sexually tired of one another after just two weeks of dating…that would be really bad.

And Faith was far from tired. Really! But often cuddling and smooching and rolling around on the bed or elsewhere, laughing hysterically because someone had just found one of those very ticklish spots on someone else's body or was just being incredibly silly, seemed just as fulfilling as actual sex.

So probably it was really a relationship thing. Or a Willow thing.

She grabbed a banana from the fruit plate – her dinner.

Yeah…her relationship-with-Willow-thing. Her Willow-soon-most-likely-being-gone-and-herself-attending-school-in-Sunnydale-thing. The two main things hurting her brain. The third thing…the frog.

Eating up, she dumped the banana peel in the trash can.

She knew about the Willow's frog thing now and it was time to let Willow know about her "frog" thing.

She walked along the hall, straight to where she expected Willow to be.

Faith entered Willow's room halfway and saw Willow lying in bed in her pyjama – just as she had expected, since it was getting late and the redhead was most likely getting ready for bed.

What she had not expected was the thing that Willow held in her hands – the frog!

The brunette was mesmerized, watching her girlfriend and her present – in peaceful coexistence, it seemed. One still with that tongue-y giant grin of its lips, the other one still looking somewhat suspiciously, but at least not afraid.

She must have stood there in the doorframe a rather long time, because, "You gonna stand there forever?" Willow grinned and finally faced her.

"Be right there", Faith replied, shaking off her fascination, and quickly went into her room to put her nightwear on. Half a minute later – slayer speed and all – she re-entered their 'master' bedroom and crawled into the bed as well, pulling the blanket up to her chest.

Willow was still holding the frog and didn't seem terribly afraid of it anymore. "You hungry? I didn't know if you wanted something for dinner or not," the redhead inquired as her girlfriend edged closer to her.

"No, that's okay. Banana was enough dinner for me." Maybe she was just too nervous to eat anything more. She let her hand wander over one of Willow's, plucking up some courage. But how to begin this…

"So…Xan told me about you and the frog-thing…," she started, her hand having found the green not-so-much-monster's arm.

"Oh…," the redhead replied, glad that she hadn't to explain her behavior anymore then…but also pretty embarrassed.

"Yeah," Faith said gently. "Makes me wonder why you're acting so cuddly with it now."

"Maybe…I'm facing my fear?" Willow tried a little smile and Faith seemed to accept the very plausible explanation for the display.

"Well, that's cool," Faith returned the smile, moved her hand to the left one of the little-big froggie and squeezed. She frowned when she didn't hear the expected croaking sound.

"Huh…," she murmured and saw Willow smirking, looking toward her bedside table.

Following the redhead's gaze, she noticed something lying on it. "You little witch! You removed the batteries…!"

"Well, the croaking is what gives me the willies, actually," Willow explained, trying to keep her blushing in check.

"Right," Faith nodded, understanding, though to Willow it might also have a slightly mocking undertone.

"You think I'm crazy, right?" the redhead asked a little anxious.

"No, not at all," Faith hastened to reassure her and put her arm behind her girlfriend's neck and head. "It's not like I don't have my fears as well…," she prepared to let Willow in on some of her last secrets. By now, the redhead probably knew her better than anyone else.

"Yeah?" Willow asked interested and relieved.

"Sure. I mean…okay, there's the normal ones…you know, I'm glad that I only had to fly twice in my life so far. I'm really not into that. And, you know, death…"

"That's understandable," Willow agreed and hugged her slayer, whose chest her head was resting on, just a little tighter.

Faith squeezed the redhead's shoulder affectionately. "But the next one might sound stupid…I'm afraid of chicken and I can't even explain why."

"Oh, really?! You have that one common with Xander!" Willow exclaimed surprised and lifted her head to look at Faith.

"Wow…," Faith replied, suddenly not feeling so stupid anymore. And she got an idea, "Since we're on that topic already…any other Scoobie-phobias to share?" she grinned.

Willow imitated this expression and thought about her question. "Hm, Xan is also afraid of clowns…or rather, was until a couple of years ago. Buffy…well, she just hates hospitals, really."

"Yeah, can't blame her for _that_," Faith countered and tried to keep memories of various times that she herself had to be brought there when she was little at bay.

"And Giles…," Willow had to think a little longer about this, "well, computers, probably," she said and chuckled a little and Faith joined in.

"So what about you? Any more phobias you wanna tell me about?" From her talk with Xander earlier, Faith already knew that Willow had a few more.

"I…uh, singing. Please never make me sing in front of others…okay?" Willow pleaded. Faith pouted briefly, never having thought about it, but suddenly curious to hear the redhead's singing voice, but nodded eventually. "And I hope you don't wanna go horse riding with me, either…because horses? They're worse than the frogs…for me…"

"What's it with you and animals, huh?" Xander had told her about the horse-issue, but Faith still had no clue what the reason for this was. "I mean…is there a reason behind that you-being-afraid-of-horses?"

"Well…on my fourth birthday, we had a party on a pony farm and…," Willow lay her head on Faith's chest again, most likely in an attempt to avoid eye contact when she told her this possibly embarrassing story, "I wanted to feed one of the ponies…and it did not only try to eat the carrot that I fed it…Guess it mistook my red gloves for something to eat too…"

Faith laughed out loud, a mixture between empathy pain and amusement was in her voice.

Willow pouted and grinned at the same time, "But now I think the pony was probably more scared than I was…"

"Well, I'll make sure that you'll never have to," Faith said determined and kissed Willow's forehead. "Anything else?" the brunette asked, having confessed to all of her more or less embarrassing phobias already.

"Hmm…oh! I'm not that fond of needles either," Willow continued. Faith shrugged, needles didn't really bother her; her tattoo was a proof for that, even if those needles were different that the ones Willow was most likely talking about. "Bad dentist experience when I got my wisdom teeth in my upper jaw removed," the redhead explained her phobia. "Do you have an idea what it feels like to get an injection in the palate?!?"

The pained look on the redhead's face gave Faith a good idea about how bad this might hurt. "Well, good thing I still have mine, then."

"Means you're officially wiser than me," Willow laughed.

"Yup," Faith replied with a smirk and patted her smart-as-hell-girlfriend's shoulder. But then her expression got more serious as she got ready to raise the next topic. Now seemed to be a good moment. Since they were already speaking of 'wiser'. "You know what I'm also afraid of?" Faith added and heard a prodding sound from her girl. "Going back to school…"

"Huh?" Willow asked, not really comprehending. Willow – the one unknowing Scooby.

Faith licked her lips and propped herself up on her elbow to face Willow. "Okay…Giles had a talk…or several…with Wesley, and he talked to the Council and, uh…and Giles said they could get me back into school. I'll have to write a test in a few weeks, to see in which grade I'd belong and stuff. And probably I'll go to Sunnydale or some other school here…or maybe home schooling, if the school board causes trouble, which Giles doesn't think they will. But, yeah…that's it…B almost exploded with joy when I told her – don't ask me why, didn't see her as the academic type, anyway. Xander's reacted as expected. B wanted to tell you right away, but I wanted to tell you myself. In private. That's why you're only finding out about it now." She was done, and throughout the entire monologue she had looked everywhere but at Willow. When she looked up now, her look was anxious. How would she react?

After a few seconds of Willow comprehending Faith's almost-babble, she threw her arms around the slayer in a bone-crushing hug. "Oh, my God, Faith!!! I can't believe it!"

Faith let herself be properly cuddled by the redhead, relieved that this one had reacted the way she had. Though she had expected it just a teeny-weeny bit; stories and her own knowledge of the little wicca and how excited this one could get about school, even if it was only a vicarious experience.

Ending the cuddle-attack after long moments, Willow proceeded by planting a firm and looooooong kiss on Faith's rather unprepared lips.

Yeah, that was one of the good things Faith didn't want the others to witness. The maybe-bad thing wasn't there yet.

The enormous smoocher went on and on, until Faith, being pinned down beneath Willow, with the redhead's lips pressing against hers and the frog pressing onto her chest, felt a desperate need for air and deliberately, yet gently, forced Willow to end her attack.

"Will, sweetie, let me breathe, okay?" she grinned, grabbing Willow's face to put some space between their lips.

"Sorry," Willow still gleamed as the slayer rolled her on her side.

"What would you tell G if they'd cart my dead body out of your bedroom tomorrow? That I suffocated because you suddenly felt the need to smooch me to death?" Faith immediately snuggled closer to her girlfriend again, letting the frog rest in between them, though.

Willow braced her forehead against Faith's and looked into her eyes lovingly. The slayer combed through the red hair with a contemplative look.

"Are you really scared?" the little redhead asked, having noticed Faith's mood changing again slightly.

"A little," the slayer replied sincerely, and her thoughts were not solely on the subject of going back to school.

Willow leaned forth and kissed on the lips gently, "You'll do great".

Faith smiled despite herself. There was something that scared her more than school. And judging from the look in Willow's eyes, she wasn't the only one thinking about this. But she had known that already.

The thought had crossed her brain several times, but Willow had always pushed it away. And she planned on doing the same thing now. Delaying the serious talk about this subject for another couple of days, weeks, maybe.

Willow had to make up her mind first. Changing her opinion about where to go about every two hours and telling Faith right away would be worse than thinking about it by herself first.

She had no idea what would happen with her and Faith after graduation. She would most likely _not _stay in Sunnydale and Faith could not neglect her slayer duties on the Mouth of Hell, just to follow her sweetheart and live with her near any of the Ivy League colleges or overseas universities that the she would pick eventually.

Willow put her hand behind Faith's head to pull her closer and put a firm kiss on her lips. Kissed her to get her mind…their minds off this topic for a while. Faith responded, gave in to the kiss…only to put her fingers on Willow's lips a few seconds later and separating them from hers.

"I know what you're trying to do," she smiled gently.

"Is it working?" Willow mumbled, with her girlfriend's fingers still on her lips.

Faith considered the question and nodded eventually. Her little Reddie got a hold of her hand and kissed it tenderly, before the brunette threaded her fingers through the red hair to pull her girl closer, kissing her.

Willow reciprocated the kiss and came closer, as close as she could get. It was her intention to let her hands wander over…specific parts of her girlfriend's body, but something got in the way. If the breast girl wanted to get a hold of her favorite toy(s), she needed to get rid of a certain green and cuddly obstacle.

"Hey…," Faith pouted as Willow tried to get the prezzie that she had given her out of the way.

But despite the endearing expression, Willow would have none of it. She put it on the bedside table, "It's terribly cute, but…,"she turned to face Faith again, "actually I want to play with something else now."

"And what's that?" Faith asked amused, already foreseeing the wicca's move.

"Hm…," Willow rumbled low in her throat as her hand moved closer to Faith…caressing a forearm, an upper arm, a shoulder. Wandering down the slayer's back…reaching the hem of Faith's tank top, slipping under it, crawling up the front...

The slayer grinned at her girlfriend, felt her ten-minutes-ago-not-really-there-horniness creep into her. As Willow started to aim in on her intended goal, Faith's hands found Willow's hair again and pulled her in for a kiss. Or two. More than two. Before, "Good thing B isn't here," she grinned.

"Why should she be?" Willow responded, tickling the underside of Faith's puppies.

"Well, you know, she wanted to watch." Noticing Willow's funnily perplex-confused-weirded-out expression and knowing the redhead was probably thinking about Buffy wanting to watch them at what they were doing right this moment..., "she wanted to watch when I tell you about the school thing, silly," she went on, teasingly. "I told her no, though."

"Oh…," Willow replied, looking relieved. "Good thinking," she added, moving the hands again that had become very still at Faith's B-news.

"But she wants to know all about it – the school thing – tomorrow…maybe we should be awake for this," Faith kidded and Willow simply shook her head, determined to do what she wanted to do. She hoped Faith wouldn't continue her Buffy-talk, because thinking about the blonde with this situation at…well, at _hand_, was more than a little confusing. "You not a sleepy school girl?"

Demonstratively Willow leaned forth to kiss those annoyingly talkative lips…before she moved on to an earlobe. "Even if I was, I still have time for this," she whispered. "Plus your news woke me up, anyway."

The smooching and tickling and caressing of…certain aspects went on, until Willow made a move to get rid of Faith's shirt.

But a firm hand on top of hers stopped the up-and-over movement. "Will, wait…," Faith smirked at the pouting face. "Aren't we forgetting something again?" Faith asked, with a nod of her head, directed at the oh-so-look-inny French doors. "I'll get them," the slayer made a move to get up.

"Oh, wait," Willow beamed as she got a hold of Faith and pulled her back down on the bed. "You don't have to get up."

"No…?" Faith replied disbelieving, but complied.

"Nuh-uh," Willow sat up instead, closing her eyes in concentration. Seeing this, Faith leaned up on her elbows, getting an idea what the redhead wanted to do. The trick hadn't worked the last time Willow had tried it.

"Claudete," came the soft command and Faith looked on fascinated as the blinds closed on their own.

_Whoa…_About to voice her amazement, she was stopped by another foreign-sounding word.

"Absconde". A blanket lying on Willow's chair was set into motion and soon after covered the cage of Amy the rat, who happily gnawing on a piece of bread and might not even have been bothered by the two lovers doing adult-stuff.

Opening her eyes again, Willow inspected her work and was relieved to find that it had worked. Two big twinkling eyes met hers when she turned her head to her side. "Been practising?"

"Just a little," Willow confessed, basking in the pride emanating from Faith.

"Got a solution for the pics too?" the slayer asked interested.

"Oh…," Willow looked at them, as if suddenly remembering that they were there, pictures of their friends, sitting on her desk. "No, I haven't," she sighed and this time she made a move to get up.

"Wait, honey," Faith held her back in her turn, with both hands around the redhead's waist. "You don't have to get up," she repeated Willow's words.

"No…?" Willow smirked when she, out of the corner of her eye, saw the dimples and the grinning lips, attached to the head resting on her shoulder.

"Nuh-uh," Faith turned Red around and lay down again, pulling Willow half on top of her. "Just pictures, remember?"

"Okay," Willow nodded and bent down to kiss Faith. And the slayer probably had a point. Pictures – not the real thing.

But maybe, just maybe, the real thing didn't even scare her as much as it would have two weeks ago. Though she still wasn't keen on anyone walking or looking in on them…the others finding out somehow didn't seem so bad anymore.

It was probably Joyce's "fault". She had been understanding and actually supportive. Something Willow wouldn't have expected.

_Some _things, however, she still didn't want to share with the others. Well, okay, Xander had seen them and some other people too, but still they belonged to _her _alone. And at the moment, the only thing between her and _these_ things, was a tank top.

_But not for long_, she grinned and gripped the hem.

_to be continued..._


	45. Chacun à son goût

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** See you in two weeks ;)  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

* * *

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE --- CHACUN À SON GOÛT (or "Hey, to each his own, man", if we say it with Faith's words)

By the time their latest… "cuddle session" was over, they had come up with a name for Willow's green and fuzzy little new friend. Gilbert. Gilbert, Willow and Faith slept peacefully snuggled together, lightly snoring, funnily sleep-talking and…not-croaking.

And the next morning, after showering…of course, together, because it saves water and is _much _more fun…and an unhurried breakfast, they went to school. Again they were pretty early; they didn't know why, they hadn't planned on getting up early. Maybe it was becoming their thing, or maybe they were just trying to spend as much _awake _together-time as possible, and it didn't matter to them if they did that at home or at school, though the quality of their together-time was of course different when they were in school.

They were good at playing _just _friends. At least they thought so. They knew that Joyce had found them out already; the others were probably unaware…even if some of them…at times appeared, as if they sensed something. The 'some of them' being Buffy and Giles.

Somehow Giles seemed faintly more fidgety around them since early last week. They both had noticed it, but had not talked about it to one another.

And for Buffy they represented 'Weird and Weirder'. Two people who suddenly seemed much more chummy than ever before, seemed to have grown closer within the blink of an eye. Sometimes she'd send them strange looks, but they didn't think she was really on to them.

The others…well, Cordelia…yesterday, she had just been her usual blunt self, but Faith knew that she hadn't intended to be mean. At least her behavior showed that she hadn't noticed anything either. And Xander didn't seem to think much about the girls' changed attitude to one another. For him things like that simply seemed to happen, especially when someone in trouble suddenly moved in with an overly helpful someone. Under circumstances like that, people are prone to get accustomed to one another, and that sometimes lead to the surfacing of heretofore unimagined character traits and behaviorisms.

All in all, Willow and Faith were okay with how things between them and their friends were right now. And if someone were to find them out now…accepting it and dealing with it probably wouldn't even be as hard as it would have been three weeks ago.

Because they had grown together, they knew each other better, knew they could trust one another. In their current situation none of them would run and deny something was up between them. They _might_ have done that three weeks ago.

But telling the others about it – them – themselves…was still…Willow couldn't bring up the courage yet. Faith might. Heck, she had almost told bitchy Queen C yesterday. But…that would have been for the wrong reason and under the wrong circumstances. To the wrong person and _without _the right person. They should be together when the others found out. And Buffy, Xan and Giles should be the "first" to know; as hard as it might sound – Cordelia didn't really matter in that respect.

They entered the library and weren't surprised to find one of the people who deserved to know "first" there already. Giles. The ever-committed librarian. Sometimes it was wondrous to them, why they always found him in the library, no matter how early in the morning they decided to show up…and that even at times, when his job as a watcher – or as fired watcher, as the situation was today – was less stressful.

Maybe he felt lonely in his apartment. Which would be understandable. He seemed to hardly have a life outside of this supernatural world. They hardly heard him talk about friends, either here or in England, or even family. They knew almost nothing about life prior to coming to Sunnydale. The only things he had ever told them about his past and his life in general is that there is some sort of watcher tradition in his family. His father had been a watcher and so has been his grandmother. And naturally he had to follow in their footsteps – regardless of what his plans for his future might have been.

The Scoobies knew that all his life had been a preparation for his vocation as watcher. And they knew he had rebelled…before finally giving into his predestined role. In this respect he wasn't much different than the two slayers currently guarding the Hellmouth. Both had rebelled at some point or another – mostly in the way of taking off and abandoning their duties – but they had returned eventually, knowing that they couldn't shirk their responsibilities.

There were things that had made them come back, and more importantly things that made them stay. Buffy's specific reasons were…her mom, her friends, Angel and school…and the brunette also knew why she herself stuck around – this time. Thinking about it, her reasons weren't all that different from Buffy's. Minus the 'mom' part…though Joyce came closer to a mom than her own had been. But she even had that 'school thing' now, and friends. And most importantly – her own 'Angel', her little 'Willow' angel. _God, turning into a total sap, are we? But it's still true. _As long as Will was still here, she'd stay. And even after that. She had found some weird sense of duty by now.

Just like Giles.

Sometimes the Scoobies thought that he was lacking a girlfriend, even if they didn't wanna imagine what these two would do together. Especially Willow had some times thought about, how his life would be now, if Jenny hadn't died last year. Maybe they would have lived together by now. Maybe then he wouldn't spend so much time here, because his apartment wouldn't be this lonely. Maybe they would be married…maybe even with a little baby to round all this up.

But…as far as they were informed, Giles since then lived a life _almost_ as isolated as a slayer's should be…except for getting emotionally too closely involved in the affairs of his charges. He lived an altruistic single life, which he solely committed to his work and everything connected to it. Dutiful (ex-)watcher. Caring surrogate father. Passionate librarian.

And as a librarian, he was currently busying himself with dreaded computer work. Which was actually Faith's task at the moment, but the brunette figured he must have a specific reason for going anywhere near the scary machine.

"Hey, Giles," Willow greeted the watcher, who was so engrossed in his work, he hadn't heard them enter.

"Oh, good morning, girls," he looked up and adjusted his glasses that had become slightly askew while he had worked – probably due to intense concentration and frustration. Faith simply waved at him with a smile.

As they approached and leaned over the counter, Faith couldn't help asking, "Whatcha doing there?"

"I-I'm…well, actually I wanted to get this done before you arrived," he said in Faith's direction; the girls were immediately all ears. Something bad going on?

But then Giles pushed something papery Faith's way, which Willow recognized immediately. A library card! Written in Giles' neat and tiny handwriting on the first page – Faith's name. "I'm just finishing up the computer work…recently…um, required for this sort of thing," he added with an almost eye roll.

Yeah. Brave new world. Or rather…Brave old Giles.

Willow grinned understandingly while Faith accepted the document. "Rad…," was all the slayer had to say, before all her actions were reduced to staring at her library card, examining it from all sides.

Befuddled Giles stared at Faith. What exactly did this… small 'outburst' mean? He couldn't even say if it was positive or negative.

Willow was less puzzled. Even though she – as well – couldn't make sense of the exact _word_ uttered, and the face was still unreadable, she recognized the almost inaudible undertone in Faith's voice. A mixture of amazement and joy.

It was not often that Faith emitted that kind of sound; the slayer did not let just _anyone _hear that sound. But Willow had heard it a few times.

"Not sure, but I think it could mean something like 'awesome' and/or 'thank you'," Willow commented with a smile in Faith's direction and put a gentle hand on the slayer's shoulder.

Giles looked back and forth between them. It was all too obvious how close the two of them were and he seriously wondered why he hadn't noticed it sooner. "Er…yes," Giles agreed to Willow's comment, while Faith still seemed somewhat enthralled. "Now…uh, I've already made a-a list of books, which you'll need for your preparation," he continued and Faith looked up, as if remembering that he was always talking to her.

"Oh…thanks," she said to Giles, who made a move to get up and go into his office, presumably to pick up the list.

Willow used this moment to draw her arm fully around Faith's shoulders and pulled her girlfriend towards herself, putting a loving kiss on her slayer's cheek. "Make me proud," the redhead whispered; but when Faith faced her and saw the beaming smile, she felt that Willow was proud of her already. No matter how well she'd perform in her test or later in school. And Faith felt…more than the way too plain word 'happy' could describe. 'Simple' reason – not many people had been proud of her in her previous life – and (in-)explicitly told her so.

They pulled apart when Giles re-emerged from his office, apparently unaware of the recent lover-y interaction. "If you like, we can work off this list right this moment, hunt down the books and…make use of your new card for the first time," he tried and got a responding noddy-smile from Faith, who actually made a move to approach and take the list from him.

But, "Oooh," a way too excited Willow beat her to it, "I'll do that!" she had snatched the slip of paper out of Giles' hand and disappeared into the stacks, before the other two could even really react.

"Anyway…," Faith laughed, resuming her original position at the counter. Giles sat back down in front of the computer, still bravely trying to finish what he had started before the girls had showed up. Faith watched him for a few seconds, before she stated, "Thank you – again – you know." She waited till Giles faced her, "For doing this. I guess…I don't know, it's not anything you can expect someone to do for you." _For me…_

Though Faith didn't say the last thought out loud, Giles could read it on her face. He didn't wonder why Faith would say or think something like that. He knew enough about her past to make sense of it. "Faith, please, you're still terribly young, and you could have a promising future…barring, um, slayer…circumstances," he paused for a second. "A-And I think…most people in my position would attempt to do something about your situation. Which…which doesn't mean that I'm only doing this as your former watcher or as the high school librarian or a teacher of any kind."

Faith looked surprised when she heard the last sentence and Giles realized that the slayer probably expected him to say something more. If he was neither talking to her as a watcher, nor as a librarian, nor as a teacher…then what was he?

She thought about what he was for her friends… knowing about her honey's "family" background, and Buffy's and a little about Xander's as well… she couldn't help thinking that Giles had become somewhat of a father to them all.

However…the word 'father' didn't have very good connotations for her…not only because she had never met her biological one…the vast amount of 'fathers' frequenting her mother's… bedroom, hadn't been the best examples of mankind either. In general, she really didn't want to think about that time too much. Especially the later years, when some 'fathers' had shown more interest in her than previous ones, and more interest than can be considered pleasant.

But Giles was a good guy. And she truly liked him. And maybe…Well, she already had accepted Joyce (and Willow) in the role of her mother(s), even though she had made bad experiences with her own, so…

"Confidant, maybe?" he offered with a kind look and Faith smiled. Yeah, this was better than a father. She had never had one, she didn't need one now. Friends, however, were always a good thing to have. She knew that now. "That or…um, 'Knowledge Guy', a-as Buffy might put it…though-though I'm not just that for you, or her."

"Sure thing," Faith replied, her mind still on the 'confidant' part. Then, thinking about what Giles had said after that, "Or, no, actually," the slayer shook her head before she nodded. "Or…," she put on her confused face and Giles smiled at it.

"To précis…though I think I've said this before…if you have a problem, you can always come to me. Even if they're of the academic kind."

"I will," Faith acknowledged. And thinking their little interlocution would be over with this, she made a move to follow Willow into the stacks and help her with the books.

But Buffy and Xander chose this moment to make an appearance. "Morning, all!" Buffy greeted in an unintended volume that could have woken all undead fiends…those having found their sleeping berth near Sunnydale High, anyway.

"Morning," Giles greeted the new arrivals, before deciding to make some tea, for him and whoever wanted some.

"You're here early…again…," Xander grinned at Faith, though mildly wondering where she possibly might have left Willow this morning. "You're not taking this going back to school too serious, by any chance?"

"Well, what about you two? Not actually quite your time yet, is it?" the brunette countered, facing her friends.

"No, but today we have a reason!" Buffy's eyes were practically gleaming with happy sparks, and even Xander looked somewhat excited, despite the early hour.

"Right…," Faith nodded, remembering her convo with Buffy last night. B wanted to know _everything_. Well, she wouldn't get to hear _everything_, but the non-sex fun stuff was okay.

"So, spill! How did Will react?" the blonde inquired. "Was she excited? I bet she was excited!"

Before Faith could reply… "Yes, she was," came a faintly muffled voice from the stacks, "Still is." All eyes turned towards pile of books on legs that was emerging from the stacks.

Before Willow had even remotely reached the stairs, Faith had already sprung to the rescue and had taken the vast majority of books from her girlfriend, leaving the redhead with two very small and rather light ones.

"Is that why you're dragging along a wagonload of books here?" Xander asked, referring to the material which was now mainly in Faith's arms.

"Yup," Willow grinned.

"Yeah, no one has the living vicariously so down like Red here. I didn't make her look for my books…FYI…," Faith explained, depositing said books on the table, waiting for Reddie to do the same. "All volunteer work."

Buffy shook her head amused, while the lovers shared a little smile and Xander scanned the book titles. Algebra… Geometry… History… Geography… more math stuff… Biology… Chemistry…English literature… Buffy, having noticed Xander's gaze, copied and soon felt herself cringing, a mien equaling the young man's.

"That's really…really… Isn't there anymore _fun_ stuff you could…read?" Buffy asked and Xander nodded in agreement.

"These subjects will all be part of Faith's assessment test," the true initiator of the Faithie's-going-back-to-school-project informed from his office, where he was still making tea.

Eyeing the biiiiig pile of books, the brunette slayer put on her best 'yuh-uh, no pressure, right?' face. Willow grinned affectionately.

"The 'fun stuff', as you put it, can be taken care of later. After the test," Giles added decisively.

"Guess that's…fair…," Buffy frowned at her choice of word(s); 'fair' isn't really what this was, but it was understandable. "And the really fun stuff doesn't require much studying anyway…that's what makes it fun," she pondered. Giles sent her an admonishing look and she shrugged. "Anyway…oh, do you know what language course you wanna take yet?!" she asked, steering her blunder-vehicle into more safe terrain. Not that she herself thought language-learning was particularly fun…but maybe that was an individual problem.

To her surprise, Faith replied, "Do I have to?" with a rather pained expression on her face…and sighed when she received nods all around. Willow and Giles smiled, knowing about Faith's 'affiliation' to language learning. "Math is so much more… 'fun'," she picked up Buffy's original thought.

"Are you kidding?!" Xander exclaimed, fairly shocked. "I mean, come on, compared to math, languages are…," four pairs of raised eyebrows avidly awaited the end of his sentence, "…equally as not-fun," came the conclusion from the young man, who not-enjoyed each and every class equally much. Well, except for the driving lessons two years ago. The only class he had ever been better in than his girl friends. Better than Willow, who, despite having passed, still preferred walking or riding bike much more. Way better than Buffy, who…oh, let's not go there...

"Oh, well, what kind of language courses do you have here?" the brave slayer seemed to succumb to her ultimate destiny.

"French, Spanish, Japanese, German and…what's that one I'm always forgetting?" Buffy asked Willow and Giles – the two who would know about things like that.

"Latin," Willow supplied the info in the twinkling of an eye.

"Right! One thought," Buffy addressed Faith, "dead language. Please don't do that – we hang out with dead things on an extracurricular basis already."

"Weird way of justifying that," the brunette crossed her arms over her chest amused, "but, okay, never planned on taking Latin, anyway. So, I guess one of the remaining four, then."

"Well, Will and I took French last year," Buffy nodded with a terse smile, before she let it slip altogether, "no fun."

"Don't listen to her," the redhead told her girlfriend, "she just never knew where to put which accent and why. Plus… all these different ways to write the sound 'o', and the difference between…cote, coté, côte and côté…, Buffy looked at her expectantly. So far Willow had listed exactly the things that make French no fun. She was just waiting for…, "on second thought – why _is _that language so complicated?" that.

Four people smirked while Willow thought about it some more. Somehow she started to understand Buffy's abhorrence.

"I took German in tenth grade," Xander announced, surprising Faith.

"Dude…," she exclaimed, wondering what the hell had driven him to the decision to pick _that _language. She had heard stories of native speakers of German, who say that they are happy they had learned this language automatically, from birth on – that's how difficult to learn even _they _considered this language. Though Buffy's Frenchies might feel the same about their language. "So, did _you _have fun, at least?"

"Oh, definitely!" he nodded, his voice laden with desperate sarcasm. "I mean, that whole inflection thing alone – that was interesting…they not only have…," he stopped for a second, thinking, "…tons of cases, but also that gender stuff and the verbs, where even the regular ones looks way irregular. The funky word order and articles are almost nothing compared to that," he ended the short outburst. "But…ich lieben die Wienerschnitzel!"

Willow pulled a slight face, her Jewish upbringing probably prevented her from agreeing – one of the few rules she actually followed, and that unintentionally; Faith perked up, while Giles opened his mouth to object – he had a small language problem.

Buffy noticed this and interjected quickly, "Oh, I know this! It's DER…Wienerschizzel, right?" she asked, half aware that she hadn't gotten the name of the _subject _entirely right.

"Actually it is DAS Wienerschnitzel," the watcher supplied and kept the secret that the _plural _article is in fact DIE, because that would just confuse his kids, even Xander.

"No, it has to be DER," Buffy objected vehemently, "I tell you – there's a food chain that's called DER Wienerschnizzel…that's gotta be right…right?"

Giles frowned at this.

"Oh," Willow remembered something, "I heard they don't even serve Wienerschnitzel there."

Giles frowned even more.

But before he could think about the reason for the definite use of the _wrong_ article, he heard a low, "Great, now that made me hungry," from Faith, who patted the stomach that seemed to emphasize her statement.

"Oh," Giles pushed his glasses a little higher on his nose and went into his office, "I-I have scones, if you like some."

"Cool!" Xander exclaimed and pulled Buffy with him toward the library table, sitting down one in one of the chairs one second later; the blonde followed suit.

Since now it was looking to become a second breakfast, Willow got up and retrieved five cups from the little tea cabinet in Giles' office. The watcher soon followed with a plate full of scones in one hand and the tea kettle in the other.

It only took a few seconds to pour the tea, and Faith, still half leaning against the table, half sitting on it, noticed too late that all chairs standing around the table were taken by now. "Oh, great show," she said, looking at her four friends, who were all grinning more or less mischievously at her, "shouldn't anyone have told me we're playing Musical Chairs?" She hopped down the table and pondered what to do now, or more specifically where to sit.

The most obvious choice was Willow's lap. Giles' would be funny; would shock the hell out of some people – even more than if she would go and sit on Will's lap. She finally decided on Xander and sat down…not on his lap, but on his right thigh. Reaching out, she grabbed a scone and took a bite. It were only scones, but at least it was something to eat.

Slayer like food. Food good.

Three pairs of eyes watched her rather amused, Xander had a little bit of trouble keeping his eyes from an all too un-friendly part of his friend…the one part that had recently been planted on his thigh. "So," she started with a full mouth, "What about Japanese, then? Anyone with inside scoop?"

All eyes turned towards Giles questioningly, but the watcher shook his head. Apparently Japanese did not belong to the languages he spoke, or could read at least.

"Well, Spanish is this still on the table," Willow added.

"Hm," Faith shrugged, "well, at least one of those languages one can read," she grinned, in reference to Japanese.

"It might not be a dire choice," Giles encouraged.

Almost, since for several moments Buffy's face had been fixed in confused contemplation. And now she finally asked, "Say, how did we get here, really?" obviously referring to this talk about languages.

The others thought for a second, noticing where Buffy was coming from and themselves having trouble remembering the original topic of discussion, "I think it started with Faith telling Will she'd be going back to school," Xander leaned forward and grabbed a scone himself. If in that process one of his hands landed very close to her butt just for stabilizing reasons, or if there was another motif behind his action, is a mystery lost in the depths of his brain forever.

Faith didn't mind and the others didn't even seem to notice this little one-sided interaction.

"Right, right," the brunette nodded. "Oh!" her eyes widened, as she remembered another G-rated detail of last night that she was willing to share with the others, "Will told me about that frog thing!" she looked back and forth between the Will in question and Xander, who had let her in on the redhead's phobia.

"Great!" Xander smiled, while Willow took a sip from her tea, just maybe to hide a tiny blush that was threatening to show. When Willow finally put her cup down, Faith used the opportunity to give her a friendly pat on the hand.

"What frog thing?" Buffy asked, feeling out of the loop.

"Oh, well, I bought her a little talisman," Faith explained and Buffy nodded – _that _she knew. "And a little…well, not that 'little' a frog." Seeing the blonde's look and feeling that she knew what this one was thinking, she added quickly, "Stuffed animal, hello-o?!"

The little slayer's face relaxed something, or at least the initial shock made room for another thought that suddenly hit her. One that was much more amusing than thinking about Faith giving Willow a real life frog.

She didn't know the best part was still to come.

"And you know what? She saw it and ran off to hide in _my _room!" Faith laughed lightly, and Xander and even Willow soon followed.

Giles as well smirked a little. And Buffy…had a hard time suppressing a laugh. One damn funny thing had just joined the other one.

"But we made up," Willow added, wanting to put things straight, "I mean, me and the frog, and last night Gilbert was even sleeping in o…uh, my bed!" she explained, proud of herself. The almost 'our' slip went unnoticed by most of the others.

Except Giles, who rather concentrated on, "Um…G-Gilbert is the frog, I assume."

"Yeah. Somehow the name just happened," Faith explained. "Don't even know how we decided on it being a male frog. I mean, it has a scarf around its neck…what would make a frog wear a scarf anyway…unless they're cold or something…"

Xander had a reply ready but decided against it. Instead he grabbed another scone.

All eyes turned towards Buffy, who had been rather quiet in the last seconds, her face set, lips pressed together tightly. It seemed as if she wasn't going to reply either…or do anything else, really. Except suppressing that one urge she had. That one caused by the two images of Willow afraid of a stuffed animal and Faith actually buying one!

Faith sensed what was really going on and said, "Laugh ahead."

And Buffy did.

_to be continued..._

* * *

**A/N**: Confused about the German articles? There are the male "der", the female "die" and the neutral "das" and in many cases the respective articles go before respectively male, female and netral nouns. I said in many cases, because it would be boooring if all the nouns followed the rules. It gets funny if you start wondering why the "Der Junge" (the boy) gets the male article, as you'd expect, but "Das Mädchen" (the girl) is apparently neutral, genderless and chewing gum ("Kaugummi") can go together with the male AND the neutral article. Most objects have received their articles arbitrarily, however, and that's the only reason "Das Wienerschnitzel" is neutral, "Der Hamburger" is male and the "Die Wiener" (sausage) is female ;)

**A/N: **And lastly, a very very happy news and a very sad one (maybe you've heard it, maybe not):

One - on March 24th, Aly and Alexis (aka. Willow and Wesley) became parents of a little baby girl named Satyana. Little baby shares her birthday with her mom (I called that). Congratulations!

Two - In the night from Sunday to Monday, Andy Hallett ("Angel's" Lorne) died of heart failure at age 33. Our condolences to his family and friends.


	46. Take Care

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended!  
**Schedule:** See you in two weeks ;)  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

* * *

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX --- TAKE CARE

The rest of the school day was pretty much uneventful. After Buffy had recovered from her laugh flash, the scones were eaten and the cups emptied, the already-legitimate-students went more or less voluntarily to their classes.

Faith hung back and spent the day with Giles and her new books. The language issue was postponed for now, though the brunette more and more leaned towards Spanish. Ay caramba.

Right now she focused on the matter at hand. Browsing through the books, she noticed that some topics would probably he harder to learn than others. But she knew she could count on Giles. And she would "use" Red as often as she needed her, and probably even more. Giles even encouraged her to do just that, generously ignoring the other meaning the word "use" might have in Faith-language, especially when it came to the redhead.

But, really, someone with 740 verbal in the SATs (something Willow still didn't like to hear) should be able to help her – even with language-y stuff.

Dating the smartest chick in school had certainly advances.

* * *

This night happened to see Faith, her smartass girlfriend Willow and her 'boyfriend' Xander on patrol - something the night hardly saw anymore since Faith's arrival in town. From that time on, it had mostly just been something the two slayers were concerned with; except for in exceptional circumstances like before and during apocalypses and the likes.

Or on nights Faith convinced her fellow slayer to take a disappointed redhead with them. On nights they would run into deputy mayors and almost accidentally…

But that had turned out okay.

More than.

And that was not only concerning Allan Finch. But the man had helped a lot already, providing them with information about the mayor and his plans to ascend and wreak havoc, a happening, which they didn't know how to stop yet. But maybe they would be able to stop him before this… maybe.

But for that to happen, they'd have to… survive this night first. The three of them. Faithie, Red and Xan. Their last patrol together, with Giles and Buffy in tow, had been a hunt and kill for the 'blue meanies', as Faith had started calling them after one of the 'bitches' had dislocated her shoulder. A night belonging to the category of exceptional circumstances before apocalypses. And that had turned out… oh, well, they had all agreed on not taking Xander on patrol anymore for a while… for his own safety. Only recently Buffy had 'reactivated' him, and instantly he had been stalked by a female vampire with obvious intentions. Which didn't involve bloodsucking and possibly killing… at least not primarily. It had been a relatively close call as well, though nobody had remembered to ask the only witness, Buffy, if shrieking and hiding on Xander's part had been involved there as well.

And he certainly wasn't keen on telling them.

Or on ever experiencing something like this too probably.

And for that to (not) happen, Faith had to control herself, be careful…and especially look out for her two friends. And for anything that might be lurking about.

She was walking in the middle, Xander on her left, Willow on her right, and like this they patrolled one of Sunnydale's many vampires.

The night was relatively quiet, the fresh graves were simply there, but nothing seemed to be happening any time soon. Which almost provoked Faith into thinking that it was a good thing that "normal" deaths still happened in this town.

They had witnessed the non-"happening" of fresh graves in the previous cemeteries, and, deciding that this would be their "wrap-up-cemetery" for the night, didn't really expect anything else from this one.

The kids had talked some more about school. About soon-to-be-again-student Faith and her shiny new books, something that a redhead was getting terribly excited about and infected a female brunette with this enthusiasm and that left a male brunette… relatively cold. About the approaching final exams and graduation of all the senior kids, something that a redhead was getting excited about, though less, a sentiment shared by a female brunette, and that left a male brunette worried… well, at least the final exam part. His plan to travel through the country after graduation (in case he and his friends survived) was the most exciting thing his near future held ready for him.

If he would go on that trip alone, was not clear yet. After the thing with the girl Faith had chosen for him while partying at the Bronze last weekend hadn't worked out as planned, he still seemed to be single. At least, as far as his girly friends knew.

"Say, Xan, is your demon girlfriend still out here? I don't remember B saying something about slaying her," Faith asked nonchalantly, as they walked along one of the cemetery paths, looking for demon-y activity, preferably coming from fresh graves.

"What?" the young man yelped startled. His demon girlfriend? Was she talking about Anya? No, as far as he know, they didn't know anything about them. And they were far from boy- and girlfriendish… not even handholding or kissing. Only him listening to her vengeance stories.

But it felt… okay. Even more. In a weird way. Mostly because of the stories.

"Vampire…?" Faith explained. "The one chasing you last week?"

"Oh…," he realized what… who the brunette was referring to and was surprised to find himself confronted with two smirks that almost looked too similar to be produced by two people not in any way related.

It was funny to see how them living together had made them… uh, rub off on each other… already. The smirk was neither Faith's usual naughty smirk, nor Willow's almost innocent one. It was something in the middle. New. And "cute"… as he had to admit, for lack of better word.

He had heard stories about dogs and master or mistress starting to look alike after years, or husband and wife as well…

But… those two?

And they weren't a couple. And there was no rubbing off on each other… Oh, bad thought…

"I thought you were still my girlfriend," he replied after a long time of staring at the two girls with the strikingly similar expression.

"I didn't say we'd have to live monogamous…," the slayer shrugged.

"I see…" A thought entered his head. "Are you? Living monogamous?" When Faith just grinned but didn't say anything, he turned to the redhead in tow. "Is she?" He was kind of curious to find out what Faith was up to nowadays. And Willow… might know something about that or even if Faith brought guys home… as Cordelia had joked during their Who-gets-to-have-Faith/Snoopy-and-Sally-act-crazy session.

"Hm… why? Are you jealous?" the redhead teased the ignorant boy and evoked a light, affectionate shove from Faith.

_Okay, now with the teasing_, Xander noted Willow's behavior. Teasing was also more of a Faith-thing, actually. It was a little unnerving to see. "No, my ego can handle it."

After recovering from the latest laugh that the ego-comment evoked from her, Faith said, "Hey, but why don't you ask Reddie if any guy's been at the house. I'm not the only… _cute_… teen girl there…"

Yes, Willow was still cute to anyone who saw her, and Faith had at least cute ears… according to Willow, so they both sort of qualified for the "cute" category.

"Right. How could I forget?" Xander made a move to almost slap his forehead. "You're

hanging out with Percy all the time." It was his turn to tease the redhead. Though he should probably tease Faith…

"Well, Percy hasn't been there," Willow answered truthfully. "And if he was… it would more likely because of… her," she motioned to Faith, Percy's crush. But concerning her and him, she didn't feel jealous, because she knew her and him wouldn't happen. Not only because… "but he hasn't. So you don't have to worry about Faith and him…"

"Thanks for clearing that up for me, Will," Faith winked at her girlfriend, before approaching Xander and putting her arm through his. "See? No guy to worry about, boyfriend," she grinned at him affectionately.

Willow just smiled at them and continued to walk by their side. It didn't matter to her that Xander and Faith shared a (sexual) past, though years ago, in all her innocence, she had dreamt about Xander being her first… boyfriend, and the fact that Faith had been his first…uh, well…and he knew (anatomical) things about her that she – Willow – wanted for herself… were still on her mind from time to time. But she was over it. She knew Faith _way _better than he did, and Faith and Xander were back to being just friends. And they were good at that, it seemed. Just like she and Xander were back to being just friends, and were being more than good at that.

All in all, things couldn't go better. And at some point, this teasing him and joking to everyone about her and Faith's possible relationships would end as well. Willow was sure of that. Though not entirely unafraid of it.

Xander still didn't know if the girls were single or not, but he figured he'd find out eventually. One thing puzzled him though. About Percy. "Okay, the thing I'm still wondering… Why exactly is it you want Percy off your back? I'm mean, okay, I'm not interested in him… uh, speaking as a straight male!..." he hurried to add, "but… I'm sure there could be some fun to be…"

"Oh, hold that thought!" Faith interrupted him, disentangling herself from him and his arm. "Seems I was wrong," she said, noticing a vamp approaching them, probably thinking he'd have a chance to attack before any of the three would see him. "There_ is_ a guy to worry about…for a few seconds. You stay here," she instructed her friends before she ran off to attack the vamp instead

She rushed him, feeling certain about her victory. The vampire seemed to be relatively young… or seemed to have been relatively young, when he had been turned. Even his vamp face showed his handsomeness. He could have been one of those high school jocks all the impressionable girls fell for. Or one of the shy, smart, but still handsome ones, who never brought up the courage to talk to a girl he liked and was seen as a nerd, because he spent most of his time with either his nose in a book or his eyes glued to the computer screen – spent his time with things he felt safe to deal with.

But that didn't matter anymore. Now he was just one more vampire. And she was a slayer.

Vampire. Slayer. Dead vampire.

One of the mantras Faith lived by. Well, mostly. There was that one vampire she had learned to be willing to spare. For Buffy's sake.

This one wasn't her friend's boyfriend, and thus his time was up.

"Hey, kiddo, want something?" she asked nonchalantly.

"Slayer," he growled at her with a smile and attacked.

"There's actually two of us. And I'm not the punny, talky one," she said, blocking a blow of his with a simple move of her arm. "So if you expected some funny banter during the fight that'll kill you…" she let a stake slip out of the sleeve of her shirt, "you picked the wrong one," and staked him before any real fight even had a chance to develop.

Watching him turn to dust, she suddenly wondered, if _everyone _just had a… bad influence on her lately. Even B and her non-stop-talking-while-fighting. Because she had talked a lot during those few seconds of fighting… according to her standards.

It was really a funny thought and her thinking continued. Were there any other influences lurking about, trying to get to her? Will's babbling, B's banter… if she ever needed glasses, would she start cleaning them at certain parts of conversations?

Would she start shrieking like Xander does when in danger?

_Wait, what? _

Xander was shrieking. Again. Like he had done on that night they stopped the apocalypse.

But… he was shrieking now. Right now. Right here.

She whipped her head around to see what was going on. And what she saw made her blood run cold instantly. Xander was lying on the ground, probably having been pushed down… by another guy, a vampire, who had just started biting down on Willow's neck.

Willow, until now too shocked to utter any sound, started screaming at the top of her lungs.

Faith watched as the scene evolved in apparent slow motion. This couldn't be. This… no. Willow…

Slow motion changed to lightning speed, as she ran towards Xander, her girlfriend and the bastard… that had just made a very big mistake. The mistake that was hurting Willow. _Her _Willow. The girl she had sworn to herself she would never again let anything happen to.

She grabbed the guy roughly by the shoulders and threw him into the nearest tree. Dazed, he scrambled to his feet. Equally as dazed, Willow did the same. Only the person helping her to do so was treating her much gentler than the person pulling the vampire up to a standing position.

"Will, are you okay?" a still fairly concerned Xander asked, making Willow lean against him. The vamp hadn't had a chance to bite her for long, maybe for about five seconds, but it had felt like an eternity for everyone.

"Yeah, it's…," the redhead felt her neck, checking for blood. It was not much blood, but it hadn't stopped flowing yet fully. "Yeah…"

Both their faces were turned towards Faith and…

"You…son…of…a…bitch…!" the brunette growled at the vampire, each word paired with a blow of her fist. She hadn't heard her friends' exchange, didn't know that Willow was… relatively okay; the vamp was gonna pay. "Know what you did?" she asked him, as the pummeling continued. She didn't even bother hitting him anywhere but his face. Single-handed. Her left, stake-wielding hand held him pinned to the tree, leaving him not the tiniest chance to escape. "Or should I say, to whom you did it!?" her eyes flashed dangerously, his eyes… or eye, one of them was already swollen shut, had taken on a scared look long moments ago. He probably wished she would just stake him and end his increasing pain.

Willow got a good look at his face, his agony, and couldn't help being stunned at Faith's fierceness.

Xander was equally as stunned… almost startled. Startled because he had hardly seen her act this violent towards some random vamp. Okay, not so random vamp. A vamp that had hurt someone she… well, what?

The couple thought entered his mind again, and he couldn't explain why. Maybe it was the "to whom"-comment. The "who(m)" was Willow. Her housemate. They have been living together for only roughly ten days now, but Faith, no, both of them, seemed to be more affected by this than he would have expected. Affected in a positive way. He wondered what the hell they were doing every night, the two of them all alone. None of them had called for help yet, because they weren't getting along after all. So they had to be fine.

He tried to imagine evenings spent with… No, he was drawing a blank. Book clubs didn't make much sense, since Faith didn't seem as much of a reader to… no, since Willow and Faith probably weren't interested in the same types of books. Computer games? No, Willow wasn't a player; he didn't know about Faith, though…

So what else would they do…?

"To whom!? Huh? Want me to _tell _you!?" Faith yelled, her hand drawing blood by now.

So, yeah… if one asked him, those two, all alone, were doing some more exciting things. Definitely… Nah, those were his hormones talking. Guy in the final phase of puberty, had… experiences with both the girls in question; consequently these thoughts just happened. And those girls having fun with each other was definitely a fantasy he could cotton up to with.

It's not like he hadn't thought fantasized about Buffy and Willow or more recently Buffy and Faith. Why not a little bit of Faith and Willow for a change?

Strangely enough, he had never had thoughts about Cordelia and another girl… Maybe Harmony… not really.

So, yeah, anyway, probably just hormones talking.

And Willow and Faith probably spent their nights with talking or watching TV… or even with boring things like studying, since now Faith had books too…

And he knew that to Willow studying could be as much fun as having non-academic fun of any kind with… He looked at his best friend, saw her getting more upset by the second and quickly forgot thoughts about fantasies that would make it harder for him to sleep tonight.

"The next one of you who touches my…"

"Faith, stake him already!" he shouted over at the brunette. As soon as the words were out, he regretted not having them uttered one second later. Because Faith had been about to say something. Apparently something about Willow. But he wasn't gonna ask now. _Taking care_ of Willow now was more important.

Willow was not upset because of the pain in her neck, which was minimal, or about what Faith would have almost blurted out, which was a thing she almost felt ready to tell the others about. Faith's anger upset her. It wasn't something she liked to see. Even though she knew that the slayer was doing this to the vampire because he had unfortunately made… fangdecent advances to _her …_ something that felt strangely amazing. But... she was worried. About Faith. About Faith doing something irrational that might get herself hurt.

Faith stopped punching, as if suddenly remembering that Xander and _Willow _were even there still, watching her. She staked him without even sparing him another look and turned around.

Just like a vampire's face morphs back to his normal human features, the angry expression on Faith's face was replaced by one full of concern. "Oh, Will, sweetie, are you okay?" she came rushing over and moved Willow's hand away to get a look at the wound.

Not deep, not bad, still bleeding.

Thankfully Xander had given Will a tissue already to press against the wound, otherwise Faith would probably already have ripped a sleeve off her shirt to provide such a cloth for her.

"Yeah, it's okay," Willow smiled at the worried face that she didn't really like either, but preferred to any angry or furious expression.

The redhead knew that if they were alone, Faith would definitely manage to look even more worried and distressed than right now, so she didn't know if Faith's, "Come on, we'll get you home. Show's over for tonight," was something she should be looking forward to or something she should rather put off for a while.

But Xander agreed readily and thus Willow soon found herself more carried than walking towards the cemetery exit. Xander had one of her arms firmly gripped, while Faith had her arm around Willow's waist, her eyes hardly leaving the spot, where her girlfriend was holding the tissue to her neck.

Xander noticed the concerned looks and the arm around the waist, of course, but the couply thoughts were entirely gone now. This was no strictly-girlfriendish behavior that could make you suspicious; this was shock and guilt. Faith was shocked, felt guilty that this – even though the injury was relatively light – _had _happened. She felt just like he felt himself. He could have stopped the vamp, if he hadn't been so fascinated by Faith superiorly fighting the other vampire, even almost playing with him.

But was it his fault? Faith's? Willow's, even, because she could have noticed the vamp approaching as well? No, it was an accident. Accidents happen. And luckily they seemed to get away with a slap on the wrist this time, or with a minor neck wound.

So they were okay, all things considered.

And as soon as Willow was home safe, things could be even more okay.

The three of them walked straight ahead, without looking around to see if something else was lurking about, waiting for an easy meal.

And thus none of them noticed a third vampire. Dressed in a suit, not casually like the other two. A vampire that had been watching what had gone on in the cemetery and was now following them unnoticed and undisturbed.

* * *

A man who knew this vampire was making his way to an apartment, where he was about to meet with associates of the three kids mentioned above. He had something to talk about, or at least they had something new to tell him.

It would be hard for him to keep this new information to himself. Even if he wanted to. A lot had happened since they had met last. In the meantime… he had almost been turned into a vampire, and had only survived because his boss still found him important enough to keep him around – as long as he did what one told him. But his boss had his ways to make sure of that.

The boss had made two vampires, two of his strongest and most effective men, accompany him to make sure he didn't get any funny ideas.

He approached the front door, the two vampires watching from a safe spot just out of sight for anyone, who might open that door in just a few seconds.

He knocked, and it wasn't long before the owner of the apartment opened the door. "Oh, Mr. Finch, please, do come in. We are glad you could make it." Giles smiled and stepped away from the door to make room for Finch to enter.

"Thank you for having me," he replied, always a man of politeness and manners.

"Hey, Mr. Finch," the blonde slayer greeted him cheery as always and waved at him. He smiled a polite hello and sat down on the couch opposite of the blonde, who was sitting in an armchair. Actually-in-charge-Wesley, who was there as well, shook his hand in greeting.

"Would you care for some tea?" Giles asked from the kitchen. The Allan Finch he had gotten to know a few weeks back had been an avid tea drinker, as Giles had noted pleased. Allan just nodded in his direction.

"Now, the reason we called this meeting," Wesley finally started, "is that we have found out some new information about the mayor's ascension since last time."

"Oh, good," Allan replied with a smile that was not entirely artificial. "I wish I had something new to tell you as well, however."

"It's quite alright," Giles continued, as he came over, carrying a tray with four cups, a teapot and a little plate with scones, "Um, Willow has attempted to access the mayor's files you've been telling us about, but, um, I'm afraid we were a bit too late. The files had been either deleted or moved by the time she had gotten through the incriptions."

"But the discs had something on them, right?" Buffy asked, clinging to one of their few hopes.

"Yes," Wesley agreed. "However, it was information that had been known to us previously in one way or another," he deflated her hopes quickly, and Buffy would have pouted or rolled her eyes, if the situation had been a funnier one. "We gained confirmation about the mayor turning into a demon – without any further specifics mentioned, though – and the supposed date of the Ascension. May 25th, 1999." On a day something else should be more important. But that was nothing new… something always happened to get in the way of special days.

"Now, the more important thing, however, is that last Friday we have gotten hold of something called _The Books of Ascension_. I don't know if you have heard of them," Giles opined.

Finch nodded neutrally. He had indeed heard of them. "Yes. Yes, of course."

"Now, Wesley and I have gone through the books already, have gained some more vital information, but we don't know if we were maybe missing something, since it everything seemed to add up altogether…"

"Oh, of course, I'm sure I can provide you with still missing information, if I got a look at the books," Finch replied. "Where are they? Do you have them here?"

Grateful, Wesley replied, "No, we have them stored in the library. Safely hidden. Only Mr. Giles and I know where exactly they are," he added, not knowing that this information he willingly provided the deputy mayor with could soon be used against them.

_to be continued..._


	47. So naked around you

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended!  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

* * *

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN --- SO NAKED AROUND YOU

It took them about five minutes to reach Xander's house and drop him off there. Of course he had insisted to come with them to Will and Faith's home or at least to take care of Willow's injury right here at his house, but Faith's nervous-freaked-out-angry look told him no.

Willow would have preferred anything involving having Xander there with them to being alone with Faith, though.

She knew the looks that would be coming, the self-reproaches. Just thinking about it broke her heart already.

But still she had agreed to going home with Faith alone, though Xander almost threatened to check in the library extra early tomorrow to see if everything really was okay. Knowing that their friend hated early mornings _and _school, and normally showed up at school at the last minute, they took him seriously.

Then they were on their way – the two of them, alone. Almost. The vampire from before was still following them, not making a move to attack them now that they were inattentive, though. He wasn't on the hunt; he was doing recon.

He noticed the way the brunette was treating the redhead, the attentiveness that went just a little beyond concern for an injured friend.

As they stopped in front of a house, and the brunette pulled out a key to unlock the front door, the vampire had seen enough, and made a move to leave the scene and the couple alone. Now he knew where they lived and what kind of relationship they had towards one another. This was enough information for now.

Soon he had to report back to his boss about what he had learned. He was a little hungry though. Maybe a little snack at one of the nearby diners would do. Or maybe two or three little snacks, if the employees were tasty enough.

* * *

Faith opened the front door of the house to let Willow in. She hadn't let go of the redhead for even a second since they had left the cemetery, and wasn't doing it now – even though the arm around the waist had transformed into one of her hands holding one of Willow's.

The slayer was frantic, didn't really know what to do. She was about to get Willow to sit down on the living room couch, before she changed her mind and led her girlfriend towards their… her – Willow's – bedroom and made her sit on the bed.

"Here, you just sit and I'll…," Faith didn't even finish the sentence before rushing out of the room and… going somewhere to do something. And on the way almost falling over a pile of books inconveniently parked in front of the bed.

Willow didn't know what to do, and she hated it. This situation. She didn't know what would help, even. Humor might help, but…

She barely suppressed a helpless sigh when she saw Faith re-enter, carrying a wash cloth in her hand. She got that Faith was shocked, scared even more, and she could deal with it – to some extent. What she found harder to deal with… was her girlfriend's insecurity. The insecurity caused by tonight's accident; the insecurity that made Faith act nervous and anxious… made her fear that this event had destroyed something in their relationship.

If one asked Will, this was how Faith behaved right now. The brunette did her best to not let go off her for longer than absolutely necessary, reassuring herself that Willow still _let _her touch her, but also, after her initial concerned question about her 'sweetie's' wellbeing, did her best to not to say much of anything, and only neutral things, afraid of saying something wrong.

As the brunette cowered down in front of her, and with her still very concerned-anxious-afraid-nervous look raised the wash cloth to Willow's neck, this one's mind kept on thinking on how to break this depressing and oppressing mood.

That look on Faith's face… It reminded her of something. And when she finally realized what it reminded her of, she almost couldn't help the grin that was threatening to take control of her features.

Faith didn't notice what was about to happen in the redhead's facial region; her concentration was on her girlfriend's neck solely. Deliberately gentle she pressed the wet cloth to the wound repeatedly, cleaning it. Even when the wound was perfectly cleaned up, she continued her ministrations a while longer, before she finally, without looking up and into Willow's face even once, put away the cloth and bent down to retrieve the lunchbox-first-aid-kit that she knew Willow stored under her bed.

She opened it and took out a red band aid, tore open the covering, and soon after applied it carefully to Willow's neck. Relieved, she noticed that a normal-sized band aid was enough to cover the wound up, which meant that the injury was really not that severe. However, this realization did nothing to do anything about her overall emotional state and facial expression.

Done with this, she put the first aid kit back in its place, and after what seemed like an eternity dared to look up in Willow's face… before quickly averting her eyes again… before sighing and looking up one more time, longer, still with the expression-of-mixed-emotions slated on her face.

When her head once again made an attempt to duck away, a hand moved under her chin, gently yet deliberately holding her head in place. She couldn't say what she expected to happen now.

Willow smiled, but she could see that this didn't help Faith's expression any. Deciding that humor might be the way to go about this situation after all, she made a move to let Faith in on the something the slayer's expression reminded her of. "Faith… stop looking at me like a hurt little puppy…," she tried for a small grin.

Of course she was referring to the look on Faith's face, but now realized that one could also interpret is as _her_ being the hurt little puppy… with the being hurt and all. Interpreted in whatever way, Willow hoped that Faith would at least catch the intended double entendre. Because if the vamp had bitten down on a more inappropriate body part, there would literally be a hurt little puppy...

Suddenly she wondered, if vamps _do _also bite people in other places apart from the neck. Not necessarily puppies, because…well, mainly, ow… but…

She decided to maybe look into it; so far she had only seen neck wounds – which was, of course, the most effective way to bloodsuck a human.

When Faith shook her head, she came out of her thoughts. For a second there, she could see a smile on the slayer's lips, and knew that this one had caught the double meaning. But then the expression changed to the puppy look again, although not as intense as before.

"Sorry…," Faith finally said, "it's just… I'm sorry… that this had to happen…," she added, stating a feeling Willow already felt evaporating from every pore of Faith's being.

The redhead looked at the girl, who was still fighting an inner battle. Was still blaming herself.

Faith… Now she understood how Willow must feel every time she got hurt on patrol or even hurt herself. Their roles were reversed tonight – she was the one taking care of her girlfriend's wounds, and Willow was the one trying to reassure her girlfriend that everything was okay.

She hadn't wanted _anything_ to happen to her girl again… and now she was hurt. Faith had failed; she was a bad slayer… and there were most likely others out there that would agree.

"You saved me," Willow tried to reassure her with a smile and a shake of her head.

But Faith herself couldn't decide if she was a bad girlfriend as well or not. "After putting you in danger," she added.

Willow almost sighed. Once Faith was in a mood like this, it was not easy to get her out of it again. "We… weren't careful either…," she still made another attempt to convince the brunette that it was _not _her fault. She reached for one of Faith's hands, captured it with both of hers. "We watched you fight," she said deliberately, thinking it would elicit a positive reaction from Faith. On the other hand… the comment might provoke the slayer into blame herself even more. And thus, "We didn't see what was going on behind us. We weren't careful, is all".

The hands that gripped hers calmed her down somewhat, but of course not entirely. The guilt was still there, even if Willow tried to take some of it off her and tried to put in on her and Xan. She knew that it might even be true – that it wasn't all her fault. Still it was hard to accept. But seeing Willow's ever-encouraging and loving smile, she answered simply, "Yeah. Okay," drawing a line under this topic, knowing that talking about it any more wouldn't lead to anything, really.

The redhead noticed this, somewhat relieved. She raised her hand and moved it soothingly through Faith's hair, before cupping her cheek, caressing it with her thumb. "Come on, let's go to bed," she said softly.

It was late and she was tired, like she probably would be on any other school night was well. This had absolutely nothing to do with the events in the cemetery.

Faith nodded, and immediately got up to help Willow undress. Not that the redhead needed any help with this, as she silently noted confused, wondering why Faith was doing this. Soon she was changed into her pyjamas and lying in bed, safely tucked in by Faith. After this said a gentle "Night" to her and put a hesitant kiss on her forehead, the brunette grabbed the still slightly damn wash cloth from the bedside table and left the room, turning off the light on her way out.

_Okay… even weirder_, Willow's brain tried to decipher what Faith's behavior was about, and suddenly came to an unpleasant conclusion about what Faith was planning on doing.

In the meanwhile, Faith had cleaned out and wrung out the wash cloth and was hanging it over the edge of the bathroom sink. Then she walked out of the room, wandered along the hall, destination… her bedroom.

Willow didn't want her in their room tonight – she was sure of that, even if Willow would never say something like this. And tonight she needed some alone time with her thoughts as it was. So this was actually good…

She was kidding herself. She knew that Willow wanted to sleep with her in the same bed tonight – like they always did, since she moved in.

But she also knew that it was only her own inner turmoil that made her react in this way. She couldn't help it; every time something unexpected, unacceptable or something she could be blamed for happened, she felt the need to be alone, in whatever way.

She just needed to be alone.

And until now, she had always managed to be just that. Not like there had ever been anyone really caring about where she went and what she did.

But… "Faith," now someone was there, who cared. Willow, with a somewhat sad, somewhat knowing expression stepped into the doorframe of their room. She knew where Faith was headed, even though the slayer had set foot into her room. "Where are you going?" the little redhead still asked, only because she felt making some conversation at first was better than jumping into action right away.

"Like you said… going to bed…," the brunette replied and pointed towards her unlit and most of the time unoccupied room.

"Okay," Willow nodded, and almost it seemed like she was letting Faith execute her plan. But Faith had barely made two steps towards her destination, when two resolute arms gripped one of hers and pulled her towards _their _room.

The lights were still out, but Faith could see fine enough. And thus, she saw Willow's lips approaching before she felt them on hers, giving her a soothing and reassuring kiss. "Then let's get you ready for bed." It was not hard to notice the hands that were, in contrast to the lips, not all too gently working on removing the belt from her pants, unzipping them and pulling them down. She saw Willow crouching down and trying to remove the shoes that hindered her from pulling off the pants entirely.

Faith cooperated resigning. No 'alone time' for her now. On the one hand, it was a good feeling… this being wanted and needed. On the other hand… it was something she wasn't used to, and part of her preferred to be alone still.

Willow's hand gripped her arm and pulled her towards the bed. She crawled back under the covers and made Faith climb in beside her. That mission accomplished, she pulled the slayer close to her, really close; the arm around Faith's waist prevented any drifting apart – unless, of course, Faith fought her way out of this embrace.

"Stay with me," Willow pleaded softly, before putting one last kiss on Faith's lips and bedded her head on the pillow, eyes closed. Her hand moved under Faith's tank top, drawing unnaughty and solely calming circles on Faith's back. She was well aware of the fact that the tank top was the only piece of clothing the slayer still wore, but she knew that her hand would not move any lower tonight; knew also that Faith probably agreed with her on that.

The slayer did not reply anything to her girlfriend's request, but she complied. Lying down fully, she put a still uncertain arm around Willow. Her eyes were still open and she watched the redhead closely.

For long moments. Simply watching. How could her little baby girl be so calm?! She was almost asleep by now, from what Faith's senses told her. The breathing had gotten shallower, the hand on her back slower.

Faith herself didn't know if she would be able to get any sleep tonight. The adrenaline was still pumping through her body. The adrenaline that came from the fear of almost having let Willow get killed tonight.

Suddenly the redhead's voice mumbled, "Close your eyes, sweetie…," and Faith almost startled. Willow's eyes had been closed throughout, Faith was sure of that, so there was no way the little wicca could have seen Faith watching her.

Faith complied, but still her assumptions proved to be correct to a large extent; sleep didn't come for several hours, and in the morning she would definitely feel tired.

Willow, however, slept seemingly peacefully. If she really was unaffected by the events, the following days would have to show.

* * *

The night in Sunnydale's City Hall was not quiet. Which doesn't come as much of a surprise, when you consider that most of the employees were vampires or demons of some other nightly-active kind.

One of the vampires was making his way to the Mayor's office; he had an appointment with him and was almost a bit late – his little midnight snack at the diner had been delicious indeed. Stopping in front of the big wooden double door, he knocked and waited for an answer.

"Come in," the usually cheery voice called out, and the vampire soon did as asked.

Upon entering, he saw his boss sitting behind his neatly cleaned desk, studying one of his less work-related books. The mayor looked up with a welcoming expression on his face. "Please, sit down, Mr. Trick. Say, do you actually have a first name?" he asked, suddenly very curious.

"Does it matter?" the vampire asked, sitting down.

The mayor mulled this question over. He preferred to call his employees by their first name – it gave him a weird sense of familiarity – but actually… what's in a name, anyway? "Not necessarily. Names change. Believe me, I know," he chuckled, but seeing the vamp's only mildly amused expression, he stopped. "Now, let's talk about our little tonight's mission. Did you find out anything interesting?"

Tonight's mission had been a simple test of Faith's slaying abilities. Because she was the slayer they, or more precisely Trick, had not had a chance to observe her in battle and report her skills to the Mayor.

How he knew about Buffy? His little SlayerFest, held on Homecoming, had given him a pretty good insight. Of course, there had been cameras there, watching the "slayers" in action.

How he knew that the brunette participating in the SlayerFest had _not _been Faith, but another brunette friend of Buffy's? That had come a long while later, long after finding out that the slayers hadn't been killed after all – something he hadn't had a chance to witness himself, with the being abducted by the mayor's guys, and also something he had somehow expected, after all. Eventually it had been Allan Finch, who grudgingly had told the mayor and his favorite vampire about each and every single person the Scooby Gang consisted of. Discrepancies between the image Trick had had of "Faith" and the image Finch presented them with had been noted; especially since Faith suddenly seemed much shorter and otherwise… physically… equipped than Trick remembered her.

Wilkins had sent some of his vamps, including Trick, to look into this matter, to observe the opposing group, and soon it was discovered that there two brunettes there; two brunettes – the shorter one of them quickly identified as being the second slayer.

"Well, first of, good thing the vampires I sent after her weren't any of yours. I would almost feel sorry for your loss, in that case," the vampire started to explain. He had 'recruited' the two newbie vampires that had still been gullible enough to believe that they could easily take on a slayer.

He had offered them 50.000 dollars each, if they managed to kill the slayer.

It had been an offer they couldn't survive. But that was mainly because one of the guys had been stupid enough to not go directly for the slayer-kill, but rather decided that taking a bite out of one of the slayer's companions would also be fun.

Stupid little fools. Trick had known all along that no money would have to be paid tonight.

"So she slew them?" the mayor asked, not surprised. "No, wait, _slayed_ them…Isn't that what it's called now?"

Trick nodded to both questions. "The first one was lucky. Little fight, little banter, quick staking. Wasn't really exciting to watch. The second guy, now… he's worth feeling sorry for. His last moment on earth were pretty painful."

Wilkins sat up in his chair, curious. "Now, now. Any specific reason for this?"

"The slayer had brought two of her friends with her – the dark-haired boy and little redhead…"

"Oh, the little hacker," the Mayor interrupted, chuckling, "unsuccessful in hacking our computers… hunting vampires now? And the boy as well? Hm… I don't get it."

Trick almost shrugged. "But at least this way I could find out something. The second vampire made the mistake to go for the hacker-girl. Bit her. And two seconds later received the beating of his un-life, before the slayer had mercy and staked him. The interesting thing, though - the two girls are living together, it seems. I would even go as far and say, they are most likely involved with each other. Faith was overly protective of her; from what I saw, this goes beyond plain friendship."

"Ah, young love…," the Mayor replied, thinking, "If your observations prove to be correct, we could even use these circumstances for our own purposes," he laughed. "So, over all, what are your impressions of both the slayers?"

"Buffy – likes to talk a lot, but is still very precise while doing her job, and resourceful, when it comes to weaponry. Faith – cunning, more hand to hand than Buffy; from what I've seen, a tendency to become irrational, when one of her 'special friends' gets hurt. I could imagine that Buffy might behave in the same way. They are skilled and effective, but with enough preparation… I don't think you'll have to worry about them."

"Wonderful, wonderful," Richard had been rummaging through his drawers while listening to the vampire, and finally pulled out a plate with a variety of… "Celebratory cookie?"

Just when he offered the plate to the not particularly cookie-inclined vampire, someone else knocked on the door. "Come in," the Mayor called out once again. Allan Finch entered, his expression not all too cheery. It never was, and especially tonight it had no reason to be cheery. "Allan, welcome back! Have a seat. Mr. Trick and me were just about to celebrate our new discoveries. But maybe you can add something to our little party as well."

The man nodded slowly. He had something new to tell. If… When Buffy and her friends find out about his unwanted betrayal, he knew what would happen to him. He had considered not telling the Mayor about the _Books of Ascension_, but Richard had his means to find out. So telling him on his own or letting him find out in another way – it didn't make much of a difference. Now he could only hope… or prey.

_to be continued..._

* * *

**A/N: **I am so, so, so sorry that I didn't update sooner... *sigh* A lot of stuff has been going on, hindering me in my writing and leading to a major writer's block. The stuff is mostly work... mainly because I tend to be a night-writer (no, not Knight Rider :P)... and night is traditionally the time where one sleeps... or works late (depending on which week it is, ahem). Ergo, it kinda sucks. But I guess a lot of you know that feeling. But we're still here - the story will continue. I can't promise you to keep any coordinated schedule, though I'll try. Not weekly updates, maybe not even a new chapter every two weeks, but Tuesday will still be the day of the week where the updates will/might happen. Hope you're not too disappointed in me :((( I'm disappointed enough in me for all of us already. Hopefully I'll get over that writer's block soon, because this story is really dear to me and I want to finish it :)

"A reader": Thanks for the heads-up. I was planning to do something about it anyway, and I'll definitely change it, if I publish the story someplace else at some point :)


	48. Dare You

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended!  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

**A/N: **Hm, somehow my betas seem to be MIA, so I was my own beta for this one *lol* Not the biggest fan of this chapter, but maybe you like it a little :)

* * *

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT --- DARE YOU

"Oh, my God! I can't believe this!" the voice belonging to an angry little blonde yelled at a rather frightened brunette standing maybe five feet away from her. Separating the girls was a big wooden table. A boy and a redheaded girl their age stood a little apart, watching them apprehensively. A man polishing his glasses did his best not to let any emotions show while he watched as well.

"I-It was stupid…," the brunette stammered. "We… I didn't expect there to be any vamps out. Well, but then there was one… and I thought he was alone… but…"

"You _thought_?!" the blonde braced her hands against the table top, leaning forward. "You're a SLAYER, dammit! You should have sensed him!"

"I… yeah," Faith admitted and sighed heavily. She felt bad. Still. Again. Right now she thought it would have been better to stay at home today after all.

They wouldn't have needed her here anyway. Things were looking... okay so far. Except for Buffy and Giles telling them that Finch had no news whatsoever that might help them to stop the Mayor. But Allan was set to come here after school one day to look through the Books of Ascension again with the watchers.

A small light at the end of the tunnel.

And Will could have told her all about it at home – if Faith would have listened to the redhead...

But no...

Last night, after a few hours she had finally fallen asleep in Red's arms; after a few more hours she had woken up when Red had stirred to turn off the alarm to _not_ wake her girlfriend. Willow had wanted her to sleep in, had, when she had noticed she had woken Faith anyway, apologized and told her to go back to sleep.

But Faith had insisted on getting up with her, despite her tired state. Willow had finally agreed, not wanting to get into an argument over this. And she knew where the brunette was coming from, knew that the shock was most likely still there, and that Faith wanted to make sure that she was okay and would be okay in the future.

And this making sure consequently meant being around Willow as much as possible. Even if it was only being in the same building at the same time.

They had showered and Faith had applied a new band aid to Willow's not yet healed up, but still rather harmless wound. Afterwards they had eaten breakfast, and this time Willow had allowed normal coffee – not spiced up with its decaffeinated friend – to enter Faith's mouth, thinking that this could help with easing her girl's still present anxiousness a little.

And really – it had seemed to work. Faith hadn't become bubbly as Willow had expected, but she was almost back to being her non-depressed little self. The last bit keeping her from being just that... Willow couldn't tell. Something was still bothering her.

And lunch break... the hour of doom... the hour Buffy finally learned about Willow's injury and how it had happened, made it all worse.

Now Faith wasn't the savior anymore, or the girl wanting to make sure that nothing else happened. Now... _she_ was a girl in need of saving.

From the wrath of a little blonde girl, who she knew would do more than yell at her if they were alone. And she had the right to. In Faith's eyes.

"I...I was distracted, and it...," she broke off... nothing she had to say would help, anyway.

Apparently neither could her friends... their friends, who were standing near them awkwardly.

They felt as bad as Faith, possibly even more. They couldn't have prepared for this confrontation, even if they had tried to. It had been bound to happen.

Initially, Giles had been startled as well, when he had heard about Willow's injury, but it had been nothing compared to Buffy's reaction. A reaction, whose outburst had been going on for several minutes now... „Well, the next time you're distracted... make sure my friends aren't anywhere near you."

With that Buffy turned and walked out of the door, leaving four people in various states of befuddlement and shock behind.

Faith bit her lips, looking as if she wanted to agree with Buffy, Willow was startled by her best friend's words and probably as hurt as Faith _should_ feel.

After a few moments, Xander left the library as well, while Giles thought it was best to retreat to his office for now.

This left two people standing, separated by a big wooden table, looking anywhere but each other.

* * *

It didn't take Xander long to reach the little blonde that had just stormed out of the library. With it being lunch time, it was no real coincidence that he found her sitting at their regular table in the cafeteria. With no food anywhere near her yet, which either meant she had just gotten here or that she wasn't hungry.

He halted briefly, considering if he should leave or stay. But when she noticed he was there, he didn't have a choice.

And sitting down, he wondered, why he should shy away from sitting with her. She was his friend and he respected her. But with that last sentence... „That was not okay," she had stepped out of line.

When he looked her in the face for the first time since he had gotten there, he realized that by now she had noticed that as well. There weren't tears, but there was definitely the shock about her own words. Especially that one word. _My_.

* * *

"I'm gonna...I'm gonna shelf these," Faith murmured, pointing over at two lone books sitting on the library counter. Two books whose shelving most likely could have waited a little while longer, since they belonged to the type of books hardly any student checked out. Some higher form of mathematics that even Willow preferred to block from her mind.

As she saw Faith disappearing into the stacks, an almost overpowering urge to slap Buffy across the face overcame the redhead. She had worked so hard last night to put Faith's mind at ease again... and here Buffy had to come and destroy it all again within a couple of minutes.

_Stupid move. _

Willow didn't yet know how she would go about Buffy's verbal assault, how she felt about her best friend right now, but she _did _know that she had to something to help her girlfriend. Now.

It didn't take her long to find Faith in the stacks; she knew the library by heart and knew where each and every book belonged.

Faith was obviously done putting away the two tiny books already and simply stood there facing the shelves. To some it might seem as if she was scanning the book covers in search for a specific volume. But at second glance it would become obvious that the girl was standing far too still, arms hanging loosely on her sides, eyes fixed on one spot, but not focused on anything at all.

At first, it didn't appear like Faith would react to her presence, even though Willow was sure that the girl had noticed her. But then she spoke and almost startled Willow out of her own thoughts. „She's right, you know," the brunette simply said, not elaborating. She didn't face Willow, fearing that part of her girlf... Willow... also agreed with what Buffy had said.

Ever since last night – she hadn't realized this until early this morning – she had waited for something very specific from Willow. Something she hadn't received then and was still too afraid to ask for. It was something she needed, but also something especially that Buffy's last sentence made her doubt she deserved.

Willow sighed and stepped forth, preparing herself yet again to convince her lover that things were okay. "Don't listen to her, okay?" she reached out with her hand and gently engulfed Faith's wrist, waiting for a resistance that didn't come. It was hard for her to find the right words to say, especially since they had had this conversation last night already... well, without the Buffy-outburst thrown in for good measure.

Buffy... she was her best friend, but she had been out of line. And judging from her boy friends' reactions, she knew that Xander and Giles agreed. Friends that were also Faith's friends, something Buffy had seemingly deliberately denied back there at the big wooden table. "You did great yesterday, and we don't know if Buffy would have reacted different or faster in this situation," the other hand landed on Faith's waist and cautiously her chin came to rest on Faith's shoulder. From there she could see a little shimmer in the brunette's eyes and hoped it meant that she was getting somewhere – for all of their sakes. "I guess she simply overreacted, okay? Take it from someone who knows," she joked and was relieved when she noticed Faith smiling briefly.

Yeah, a simple overreaction, like it sometimes occurred within this strange species – the human animal. People overreact for a lot of reasons, and often the reason was fear. Fear of plushy, green froggies... fear of losing friends to stupid accidents...

That was Buffy's true reason for behaving like this, and as soon as the realization hit Willow, the wrath she had felt for her best friend for destroying everything she had built back up last night, disappeared for the most part, leaving understanding in her.

_Well, she could have expressed that fear in some other way... But where would be the fun in that...? _

She was about to laugh lightly when she noticed that Faith's shoulders were still tense, that her girl was still not entirely convinced. That there was one thing that bothered Faith more than Buffy's denial of friendship, she didn't know.

"In one or two days, this'll be forgotten, sweetie, especially since she didn't mean it," _I'm sure of that_. "Just wait and remember that we're all your friends and that we love you. Plus, there's one person here that loves you more than anything, and not just as a friend. And...," she shuddered, maybe exaggeratedly, so Faith would notice, maybe not, because she was partly serious about what she was about to say, "if you promise to not be all frowny-faced about this anymore... said person might let you put the batteries back in Gilbert tonight".

She frowned briefly when she realized that anyone not familiar with a certain green, plushy, meant-to-be-croaking stuffed-animal-new-inhabitant of the Rosenberg residence/bedroom might think Gilbert was... something else... but her face quickly formed a smile, when Faith finally reacted and turned to face her.

The face was still frowning, however, and Willow waited to hear the question(s) that seemed to form in the pretty little head the face was attached to. "You mean that?"

"If you stop frowning," Willow repeated, thinking she knew what Faith was referring to. She brought her hands together behind her girlfriend's back, wanting to hold her close.

"No," the brunette shook her head, "before that...," she _vaguely_ clarified and her look went from frowning to hopeful. Of course the prospect of Gilbert croaking and Willow not taking off, scared out of her mind, was intriguing, but the words she had just heard, meant so much more to her. Those were the words she hadn't heard yesterday and feared would never come back to her.

Willow thought about what she had said before... and couldn't come up with anything other than the fact that she loved Faith more than anything or loved her _at all_. Was that... and not Buffy... the actual reason for Faith's behavior? She had said those words to her before, she was... at least ninety per cent sure of that. But...

"It's just with... last night. I mean, you showed be that we are still... okay... like right now too. But you never said...," Faith stopped, not saying the phrase herself, "and I guess something up here," she motioned towards her head, "wanted me to believe..."

Not wanting to hear what Faith's head wanted to make her believe, Willow grabbed Faith's face and planted several firm kisses on her lips.

They were both stupid. She was stupid, because she hadn't realized Faith's predicament -

and Faith... was just stupidly insecure. Though the redhead knew that there were most likely reasons for this. Reasons she didn't know about yet and maybe never would.

But that was okay, as long as she had Faith and Faith knew that she was loved. Especially by her.

And thus she repeated, "I love you," already thinking about a way to never make Faith forget about that. "Okay, baby?"

Relief showed itself on Faith's face. She nodded. Now she knew that things were still okay. And now Buffy did matter only minimally. They'd talk again pretty soon. And Willow...? "I love you too"... With one thing, Buffy was still right. Their friends on patrol – that was something she wouldn't have happen soon... most likely... Well, Willow was stubborn, so any discussion about that subject wouldn't go as easy as she wanted – she knew that.

The redhead in question - who didn't know about Faith's plans yet – gave her girlfriend another kiss, pleased with the mutual confession of love and the end put to this newly reheated crisis, before releasing the grip on Faith's waist. "Come on, let's go eat something," she smiled and lead the way out of the library, briefly checking in with Giles to let him know that things were back to normal – something the librarian acknowledged pleased.

But today the lovers didn't go to the cafeteria to eat – Willow had other plans. One of them was a senior, and seniors could go off campus in their free hour...

* * *

Eight hours later, the front door opened - much quieter than Joyce ever thought possible. Vainly she waited for the cheery 'Hey, Mom!' that she usually heard from her daughter. That it really was her daughter who had just entered the house, she noticed, when she stuck her head into the foyer and saw her hanging up her coat on the rack.

Since it was already pretty late, Joyce had been worried about where her daughter had possibly gone after school... which had ended about five hours ago. Not that she usually worried about where Buffy went, but today was different. Somehow she had felt something – something of the non-supernatural kind - was up, and Buffy's sad expression apparently proved her to be right.

"You're late, honey," she said matter-of-factly, careful not to sound in any way accusing, curious or worried.

"Yeah... sorry. I went to Angel's after school. And we also went on patrol later, so... I don't need to go out tonight again," Buffy smiled forced, as she walked past her mother and into the dining room.

"Oh... I see," Joyce nodded solemnly, when she heard, whom Buffy had spent her evening with. Not that she had problems with her daughter's boyfriend... No, wrong, she did have problems with him – especially with him being a vampire. Some time very soon she would do something about this problem. But tonight...

"I guess it did something pretty dumb today..."

She would be all ears for her daughter, who indeed seemed to have another problem.

"It's about Faith."

"Faith?" the older blonde inquired perplex. A couple of days ago, they had already had a conversation about Buffy's fellow slayer. But this one would become a little less pleasant, Joyce feared.

* * *

The brunette and her redheaded girlfriend had spent the larger part of the afternoon together – the exception being the two classes Willow still had to attend after lunch. For lunch itself they had visited the location that had seen their first date... or, let's say, the event that had resulted from Faith almost killing Allan Finch and that had resulted in her and Willow... getting to know each other a lot better in the slayer's motel room.

This time around, they hadn't had as much time for their fries and their ribs, but they had made sure to squeeze some smoochies in as well. With the bar being its normal, little frequented self, they didn't raise any suspicious now either.

The smoochies had went on after Willow's afternoon classes. Back in the library stacks, between rows of books that no one cared to check out.

Giles had been gentleman enough to pretend to not notice what was going on in the inner sanctum of his work place. What he had noticed was Xander and Buffy not making an appearance after school. Which didn't come as a surprise, what with Xander rarely staying in this building longer than necessary and Buffy... having other things on her mind today.

He himself hadn't stayed long after school either. No specific reason, he just hadn't felt the need to. He had known that the lovers, who surprisingly had come out of their smooching place again after what had felt like hours to him, would be fine without the man that pretended to have no clue about the lovey-dovey goings-on.

They hadn't proven him wrong. Faith had trained for a bit, while Willow had spent time on the computer... and also watching Faith, of course, because only few things were better than watching her very own slayer in action. Well, maybe watching her very own slayer sleeping at night, but a sweaty slayer in action came in at a close second.

Of course Faith had been aware that she was being watched by a fascinated girl, and it was just all the more reassurance of the intact state of her and Willow's relationship. From now on, she'd not doubt Willow's love because of some accident or incident or even a friend's comment.

Unless there was really reason to doubt, of course. But both of them would work hard to keep those reasons away.

And the still faintly present aftertaste of Buffy's comment would dissolve soon. Leaving them as happy as they could and should be.

Now the college question was the only issue to worry about. Until today Willow hadn't really talked to Faith about this subject. She knew that the brunette had been her brochures and had her own thoughts about them, and she was aware of the fact that Faith probably hadn't wanted to interfere with her decision.

But it had become clear to Willow that Faith needed to be a part of her thoughts concerning her choice of further education. It was pivotal if they wanted their relationship to last.

Thus Willow had used the time Faith had needed to take a shower after her training session to pull up the websites of the colleges and universities she was most interested in. And when Faith had come back in, asking her if she was ready to go home, she had consequently answered this question with a shake of her head and had asked her mildly confused girlfriend to pull up a chair and sit down instead.

* * *

Confusion had been quickly replaced by a strange mixture of relief and tension. Relief resulting from the end that had been finally put to all the tiptoeing around this subject. Tension because of the same reason.

But they had finally talked, with Faith listening attentively to Willow's explanation about each and every school and the classes she would want to attend there and Willow respecting each of Faith's reactions, most of which had been supportive in the best possible way.

The decision was not there yet; the slayer had encouraged her Reddie to think about it as much and as long as necessary, to make sure what was best for _herself_, not for any other parties involved.

Willow had also mentioned the local university as an option, and Faith's heart had jumped in giddy excitement hearing that... though deep down she knew that eventually that it wouldn't be UC Hellmouth for Will.

Still, thinking about it made her feel pretty good. Even better she had felt when they had gotten home and Willow had kept word and really had given Gilbert his battery-operated croaking back. The only cutback Faith had to accept was that Willow had made her promise to keep the croaking at a minimum – a... relative...minimum, since they hadn't discussed the exact actually acceptable amount of croaks per day. But as long as the croaking was back for good, Faith had shown willingness to keep it down.

* * *

After a quiet night of watching TV, Faith almost falling asleep on the couch again and Willow gently guiding her to the bedroom to find way more comfy and snugly sleep there, a new day awaited them, from which they hoped that it would bring a reconciliation with Buffy. Something they both hoped for.

Until now, they hadn't seen her. Well, at least Faith hadn't. It was half past eleven am, and Faith expected Willow to be peeking through the library doors in about an hour to pick her up for lunch. Maybe to go to the cafeteria, maybe to go to their snugly and little frequented restaurant, maybe to go some place else.

A person she didn't expect to see was a blonde about twenty years older than the blonde she hoped to make up with at some point today. "Hi, honey," the friendly voice greeted, making Faith look up from the book she had been reading at the library table.

"Joyce... what's going on? Did something happen?" she quickly got up panicked, not having noticed Joyce's initial smile. It wasn't every day that Buffy's mom just happened to show up at school.

"Oh, no, everything is alright," the blonde smiled again, this time making sure that Faith noticed it too. "I just have my day off today and thought I'd come see you."

"Me?" Faith replied surprised; the almost-relaxed state she had been in when she had heard that everything was okay made room for new nervous anxiety – there could only be one reason, "If this is about Buffy, then..."

"No, nothing like that...," Joyce stopped her quickly, though her eyes seemed to add a tiny 'well, maybe a little'. "But two days ago she told me that you would be going back to school in a few months", she smiled gently, the way only a mother could when she was proud of her child. Even if Faith wasn't really hers.

"Oh, that," Faith replied relieved. That was better? No impending catastrophe and no hard words about yesterday's argument. But why would her going back to school provoke Joyce into visiting her in the library of one of those?

"And I, um... Well, I couldn't help myself, I had to buy you a maybe a little early back-to-school gift." With this, she opened the bag she carried and produced a black, rectangular item.

As Joyce handed it to her, Faith was able to identify it as an agenda, which covered the years 1999 and 2000. The cover wasn't simply a black material of any kind – it was black leather, _the _material making Faith want to run her hands over and over for hours. Joyce had figured her out – she must have worn leather pants one too many times while visiting the Summers' house.

"Wow, Joyce, I...," Faith uttered, fairly overwhelmed. Gifts – not something she was really used to yet. And a gift in connection with school was even weirder. "Thank you. This is really cool."

"Just make good use of it," Joyce smiled as she watched Faith thumbing through her new friend. She thought back to her own school days, remembering that her agendas used to be full of doodles and all sorts of things... Homework assignments? Not so much. But still...use is use. She wondered if Faith was a doodle-type; she knew that Buffy did it all the time... And she herself hadn't entirely kicked that habit, and wasn't planning on doing so.

"Promise." Meeting the blonde's eyes again, a teary shimmer of emotion was visible in Faith's dark ones.

"And listen, honey... about what happened on patrol and what Buffy said...,"noticing Faith stiffening again, Joyce hurried to get her thought out – she didn't want to upset the girl, "She didn't mean it the way it came out. She knows that accidents can happen no matter how alert you're trying to be. And her outburst only stemmed from her initial shock. Soon enough you two will have a talk about it and see that things are okay again."

Soon enough would be today, as far as Joyce was informed. Buffy had told her last night that she felt sorry for her words and felt the desperate need to make up for it quickly.

Faith stared at her in a mixture of relief and a little amusement; because what Joyce had just said sounded actually rather similar to what... "You sound like Willow,"... Willow had told her yesterday – the emotions conveyed were almost exactly the same.

Joyce blushed faintly at Faith's words, that comparison was a true compliment to her ears, considering that right now the redhead was probably the most important person in Faith's life.

The blushing continued, when, "Is everything alright? I thought I heard some...," Giles emerged from the depths of the stacks, for once neither carrying a book nor holding a cup of tea. An almost unusual sight, Faith noticed, when she turned her head to look at him. Another unusual sight... _Wait... is he blushing???_

Indeed he was. With cheeks a little rosier than normal, a smile that was somewhere between terse and involuntarily open and hands helpless in their uncommon emptiness – one finally moving in the pocket of his pants, the other one fighting the urge to take off his glasses – it was clear that something made him nervous.

Or more precisely... someone? "Oh... um, Joyce... hello," he greeted with his smile unchanged, staying put where he stood and looking on.

Faith looked over at Joyce, something dawning on her. She didn't know what it was exactly, but there was something. The blush on Joyce' face – which had increased considerably since her comment that she sounded like Willow – and the almost shy "Hi..." only fuelled her suspicions.

_to be continued..._

_

* * *

_**A/N: **Never thought this story would someday have 400+ reviews! Thanks so much, you guys rock! I hope you'll continue to read and review, it really means a lot to me. Thanks for your patience :)


	49. It's not like the movies Or it it?

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended!  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

**A/N:** Hope I won't have you waiting_ that_ long for the next chapter. Thanks for your patience! ;)

* * *

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE --- IT'S NOT LIKE THE MOVIES. OR IS IT?

Faith observed curiously how Giles and Joyce behaved around each other. Well, actually she sat down at the table and pretended to be checking out her cool leathery gift while doing so. But she thought it better to not listen in to what they were talking about, since Joyce and Giles deliberately stood a little aside, near the entrance of Giles' office.

Thus she only peeked up occasionally, took in subsiding blushing and erratic gestures but entirely missed Joyce informing Giles of the plans she had for the rest of this afternoon. The plans involved an old, only seemingly abandoned mansion on Crawford Street and a vampire with a soul. It was something she had thought about when her daughter had mentioned him yesterday.

Though she knew Angel had probably helped her a lot in the difficult situation she had maneuvered herself into by making Faith responsible for Willow's getting hurt on patrol, the fact that the vampire still seemed to be such a big part of Buffy's life unsettled her.

What she would discuss with him in a few minutes would hurt her daughter, she was fairly certain of that. Buffy might even hate her for a while, if she found out that her mother was responsible. But eventually the younger blonde would hopefully get around and see that Joyce only wanted what's best for her only daughter.

* * *

But at the moment, Buffy didn't know anything about Joyce's plans. At the moment the blonde was getting up from behind her desk, picking up her books, getting ready to leave the classroom, in which she had just suffered through sixty minutes of Contemporary History. For her a subject almost worse than Chemistry. Or Algebra... Or any subject involving numbers and formulas, for that matter. But there was always one person who helped her with even the biggest problems she faced in those subjects. Willow.

Until now they hadn't talked much, had just smiled politely, sitting next to each other in a silence that didn't feel hostile in the least, but for Buffy still was hard to bear. Maybe her getting down on Faith yesterday had destroyed even more than she had feared. Buffy knew that Willow must be caught between two stools when it came to her and Faith, with being _her_ best friend and living with _Faith_, thus naturally spending a lot of friendly time with the brunette as well.

When Willow had gotten up immediately after the bell had rung, had packed her stuff and had left the room, the feeling had overcome Buffy that Willow was still leaning more to Faith's side. She didn't blame her, though she had really wanted to talk to her some time today. _Tough luck_, she thought to herself with a sigh, starting her trip out of the room and to her locker alone.

But then, to her surprise, Willow was waiting for her just outside in the hallway. And when she saw the encouraging smile on the redhead's lips, she approached her relieved and with one little worry less.

They didn't talk for the first few seconds, both feeling that a simple 'hey' would be pretty redundant in this situation, since they had seen each either already today.

"So... how did you like that stuff Mrs. Myers was talking about? You know, what she said about... Is it a bad thing that I've already forgotten what we discussed, like, five minutes ago?" Buffy joked, referring to the class they had just attended. But part of her was frowning... Shouldn't her brain at least _try_ to remember even bits and pieces of classes she had absolutely no interest in? Selective memory could be a blessing, but in cases like this is was a bad thing...

"Maybe," Willow smirked at her friend, of course knowing Buffy and her aversion to history all too well. And even if the blonde's light joke might have just been a way to break the already thinned ice between them, she knew there was a quantum of truth behind her words. But she'd make sure to make Buffy at least remember the most important facts discussed today. Leaving out dull and unimportant side notes. That's what she always did. Loved to do for her best friends. Best friends, rather – Xander included. And though she wouldn't share any classes with Faith next school year and possibly be thousands of miles away, she hoped she could help her too, if her honey needed it.

And as if Buffy knew who Willow was thinking about just now, "Hey, uh, do you think that Faith is mad at me? For yesterday, I mean," she started, before laughing nervously, still unsure how Willow would react, "you know... foot, mouth, stupid Buffy and all..."

At that Willow really became a little serious, making Buffy's heart sink slightly. Opening her locker to stack her books there, she replied "'Mad' is the wrong word... She was pretty upset, but it was more sadness than anything else..."

It was Willow herself who had been mad at her friend, until she had realized that...

"I'm really sorry, Will, I was only afraid that..."

"I know," Willow interrupted her friend quickly. She didn't need to hear this; not because she didn't want the blonde to apologize, she was happy that her friend tried. But she wasn't the person who deserved this apology, who needed it. Even though, yes, she had suffered as well, seeing her girlfriend's pain and building her up - again. "And I get it," she smiled at Buffy reassuringly.

The blonde took this in, not really relieved that Willow stopped her apology. Didn't she want this? Maybe not. Maybe Willow wanted her to save that speech for the person more hurt by this.

"Hey, listen, about Faith," the redhead started as on cue, "you should talk to her. I'm sure you'll both feel better afterwards. Maybe you could patrol after school? Have a talk then?" Willow asked hopeful.

"Think she'd want to? After how reacted? I pretty much bashed her slaying abilities, Will," the little slayer countered tensely; the more hopeful Willow got about an upcoming reconciliation, the more her own hope on that subject was dwindling. She had simply been too harsh to Faith, who – she was sure of that – really hadn't wanted to have anything happen to Willow. Or Xander, as a fact.

"I think it'll be fine." _At least I hope so. _Of course, there was the possibility that Faith would say 'no' to Buffy's suggestion of patrolling together, but it was... not that likely, since her girl wanted to make up with Buffy as well. "Maybe it'll make things easier if you tell her that you reacted like this because you were scared. Which... I kinda already told her," Will added quickly with a blush and a smile, making Buffy smile slightly in return.

"Okay," the blonde nodded, preparing to realize Will's well-thought-out plan.

"But, see," the redhead added, partly pulling back the bright red band-aid from her neck, revealing two punctures that now looked almost tiny and harmless, "No biggie. It'll be okay in no time".

Words that would hopefully also prove true for Buffy and Faith's relationship.

* * *

"So... Will talk you into this?" Buffy was asked by the brunette about six hours later when they walked through the depths of Restfield cemetery.

Faith had wondered this since Buffy had entered the library around noon, had asked her if she wanted to go on patrol with her later, which she had agreed to, had left for her next class two minutes later and almost literally ran into Willow who had come to pick her up for lunch, making brief eye contact with her, both grateful and apprehensive.

So maybe it had been a little obvious, though Willow had denied this when Faith had asked her during their lunch break – which this time had been spend with yummy pancakes at the Espresso Pump.

And even Buffy's hesitant-surprised "no" to her question couldn't argue her out of this thought. Faith didn't mind either way; as long as this patrol went as planned – successful, that is, without any incidences – she'd be happy to have made up with the blonde this way. If she failed again, she'd...

She didn't want to let her thoughts get that far. "Okay," she replied, as her eyes scanned the cemetery repeatedly, extra-attentively, determined to show Buffy that she could do it right.

The older slayer noticed this, thought about if it'd be wise to comment on this behavior or not. But when her brain couldn't come up with anything more casual-small-talky to begin a real conversation with the brunette, she took heart and delved into the topic at hand. "You didn't go patrolling last night, right?"

Seeing nothing out of the ordinary going on anywhere, she finally faced the blonde, letting out a "No" in return. She knew that Buffy's words were most likely neutral, but they sounded different. "Though it'd be better to stay in," she simply shrugged, stating pretty much the truth.

Buffy noticed the shrug and the rather helpless look accompanying it. The helpless look resulting from knowing you're responsible for someone getting hurt. "Look, Faith, I'm sorry. I didn't have the right to say something like this to you. Especially since something like could have happened to me too."

"I know," Faith replied quickly. She knew these things could happen to B; she knew similar things had happened to her in the past. There had most likely been patrols that hadn't left the Slayerettes entirely unharmed. Now Faith understood the blonde's unwillingness to let her friends tag along on patrol nights, whereas in former times, they'd done that regularly – that much she knew from Willow. It wasn't only because she herself had come to Sunnydale a few months ago, making it more logical for a slayer to team with an equally strong and little vulnerable partner in the fight against evil. Events that had taken place at the end of last school year also were an important factor. She had heard about comas and lots and lots of broken bones. Willow, Xander, Giles. She knew Buffy wouldn't want things to go that far again. And neither did she. "And trust me, it'll take some time before I'll take Willow and Xander on patrol again". In her mind, 'some time' probably equaled centuries right now.

Understanding and relief etched themselves into Buffy's features upon hearing Faith' reply, though there was also a tiny amount of doubt. "Making that clear to them won't be easy. You might not have noticed this, but they can be a teeny bit stubborn sometimes. Especially Will," the blonde tried a joke.

And really elicited a laugh from Faith who _knew _Red's stubbornness pretty well already. "It won't be easy," she admitted to a now fairly more relaxed Buffy – relaxed since things between them were starting to get back to normal apparently – before her voice took on a more serious tone again, "but I'm gonna try. If something had happened to Will... or Xan, for that matter... something worse, I don't know if I had been able to live with myself".

Buffy almost missed a step at those words. Brought forth with an intensity and emotion she hadn't expected from the formerly so tough and badass slayer. She knew Willow was the reason; the redhead seemed to affect Faith in ways Buffy never would have imagined. Yes, Xander getting hurt would have definitely freaked her fellow slayer out as well, but she felt that with Willow the intensity of the freaking had been much stronger than it would have been with Xander.

"You care for her a lot, do you?" Buffy replied, not really asking, rather just stating the obvious.

The question didn't shock Faith, she could see in Buffy's eyes that the little blonde wasn't implying anything else. "Come on, Buffy, she's... Willow. Show me one person in the world who wouldn't care for her," she still countered, not daring to state a simple 'yes'... Out of fear that she wouldn't be able to keep her mouth shut afterwards? Would be spluttering and pretending that it was really only 'in a friendship way, you know. Like you an Xan care for her and stuff, okay? Not anything more than that,' - possibly only making Buffy suspicions that way.

But since the spluttering hadn't happened, an unsuspecting Buffy just nodded with a smile, "Yeah, you're right," before an amusing thought concerning Faith caring for Will entered her mind. "Still, most people wouldn't buy her a stuffed animal," she nudged Faith with her elbow, "You still haven't explained to me how _that_ happened".

* * *

As Faith got ready to tell Buffy about her toy store experience, Giles got ready to go home. Tomorrow, Friday, was a public holiday, and he was looking forward to this long weekend. He didn't really have plans, though. Maybe he'd reread one or two of his favorite books, or drive around the countryside a bit – in his almost three years of living here, he had seen barely more than Sunnydale and its many cemeteries.

Or maybe he'd be listening to his old classics and playing guitar, thinking about the evening he and Joyce had spent in his apartment, doing just this, and the night they'd spent out on the town, doing... other things. He hadn't really expected her to visit the library today. But after the initial shock, it had been a pleasant surprise.

Maybe one day, they'd be able to look at each other again without blushing and stuttering. They didn't want the children to catch on to their little indiscretion. Yes, they all, including the kids, were grown-ups now for the most part, but they still felt that Buffy, Willow and the others knowing about them might not be the best thing right now. Maybe in a year or so, when the kids would be off to college, they might have a go and see, if things between them could work in the long run. Because, yes, Joyce was still a charming woman and he found her quite attractive, knew that she returned his attraction, so the possibility for a relationship was given.

Briefly checking a small securely locked book cabinet in his office one last time and turning off the lights, Giles and his thoughts about Joyce left the library.

Not two minutes later, three figures clad in black emerged from the depths of the stacks. The place was unlit, but unlike human eyes, theirs didn't need time to adjust to the darkness. Spreading out quickly, they went to work looking through the books the library housed.

They were looking for specific volumes. Volumes that could decide the fate of the world.

* * *

Willow was in the kitchen when she heard the front door of the Rosenberg home open. And Faith's "I'm here!" only confirmed what she already knew – her girlfriend was home. Who else would have a key to let themselves in here? Well, there were two other people, but she didn't want to think about them now.

She rather concentrated on, "That's a happy face," the slayer entering with the kitchen with the biggest smile she had seen on her face in the last two days.

Dimples deepening even more, Faith replied with a, "It's looking at you."

"Baby?" Although flattered, Willow pulled a face, earning a questioning look from Faith still grinning one, "you're getting schmaltzy".

"Oh", the grin disappeared from Faith's face, "I am so, so...," for about five seconds, before it returned, "_not _sorry!" with a big hug for Red and an even bigger, smacking kiss on the redhead's cheek.

"I guess patrol went okay," Willow concluded, fighting the urge to wipe the remains of Faith's rather wet kiss from her cheek.

"Hm, yup," Faith replied with her arms still tightly around Willow's waist, "three vamps for Faith, two vamps for Buffy; much talk and no injuries or accidents whatsoever," the brunette quickly summarized the successful slaying event. "And I wanted to thank you."

"What for?" Willow asked.

"Well, I'm pretty sure it was your idea that we'd go patrolling together."

When Willow opened her mouth to object that, no, she hadn't – which she had already tried to make the brunette believe earlier - Faith raised her eyebrows with an amused smile that showed that there was no one denying it, she simply replied, "Yeah, okay."

"See? I knew it. And for that, again, thank you," she said softly and kissed her girlfriend gently, repeatedly. After a few moments, she released. "Okay, gonna go shower now."

"Yeah, you better," the redhead chuckled. She hadn't wanted to mention it, but a dusty and sweaty slayer wasn't necessarily her favorite. Though in certain, more bedroom-y situations, she didn't mind sweaty Faithie.

"Hey!" Faith protested, already making her way into the bathroom. At least her current condition proved that it had been a good patrol.

*****

Ten minutes later she was back, helping Willow preparing dinner. Spaghetti were the meal of choice and Faith took delight in spicing the tomato sauce going with them. She didn't let Willow see what exactly she was doing there or let her have a small taste; she wanted to surprise her with her, well, cooking talent... if such a creature existed.

"So, what do you wanna do this weekend? Maybe we could go somewhere," Willow asked, looking after the spaghetti.

"Hm, don't know," Faith replied, "maybe the movies or something? Or get out of town a bit. Anything interesting to see near Sunnydale? Except for the highway going to L.A.?"

Willow chuckled, "Not that I know of. But I'll hop online later. Maybe we'll find something after all".

"Sounds good. Wonder what the others will be doing".

"Don't know," Willow replied. "We could ask them to tag along to... whatever we'll be doing. Maybe even Joyce and Giles, though he'll probably end up with his nose in a book, no matter where we'd take him," the redhead teased.

Faith laughed, "You probably got _that_ right." And though she liked the idea of taking along with them, right now her mind was occupied by another... interesting... thought. One concerning Giles and, well, Joyce! One that had come to her mind earlier today, when she had observed some weird behavior going on between them. "Um, Reddie...," she began innocently, "have you noticed... something going on with Giles and Joyce? You know, like, glances and stuttering and stuff?"

Willow's eyes immediately turned away from the almost done spaghetti, staring at Faith, thoughts about the rest of the Scoobs and the upcoming weekend forgotten. Because, she _had _noticed glances and stuttering. Very shy glances and very pronounced stuttering. Rounded up with a body language that had to make everyone who wasn't completely blind or deaf suspicions.

She herself had noticed this behavior at the end of last year. Back then when her typically absentee mother had put her two week's holiday at home to good use and had tried to burn her one and only daughter at the stake.

Because of her use of evil, evil witchcraft and all. Or maybe just because of the fact that she was actually friends with a girl named 'Bunny'...

She had almost forgotten about the stake incident by now – the only remainder of this fateful night was Amy. Amy, who, back when she had been a human girl, used to have much more power than her. Amy, who was now a rat and was living in a cage in her bedroom. And now Faith reminded her of 'Bunny's' mother and watcher, behaving weirdly...well, weird.

Faith took Willow's wide-eyed silence as a sign that she hadn't imagined things earlier today. "So you did?" she asked, just to make sure.

"Kinda," Willow agreed. "Wait... you don't think they..."

She didn't finish her sentence – Faith knew perfectly well what she was implying.

"No!" they both exclaimed simultaneously. No... they didn't do anything. Neither kissing nor, god forbid, anything more than that.

That's what they tried to make themselves believe. To keep unwanted images away. But secretly they seemed to agree that either there _was _something going on still or that something had happened sometime late last year.

Whatever it was – Giles and Joyce obviously tried to keep it a secret. And Willow and Faith respected and understood this very well – being as they were in a similar situation. At least, for now.

*****

"Ugh... that was too much," Willow groaned in discomfort half an hour later, one arm thrown over her eyes, the hand of the other one holding her stomach.

Dinner had been fun. Maybe too much fun for her poor tummy, but otherwise...

The tomato sauce had been a little bit... no, a little bit more... on the garlic-y side. That was apparently how Faith liked it. If she had put too much garlic in there even for her liking, she hadn't admitted it. "Good thing I only have to kiss you," Willow had joked, when a funny thought had sprung to mind. One involving kissing, spaghetti and two cute cartoon dogs.

"Am I the Tramp in your scenario?" Faith had pouted, after a grinning Willow had explained what was going on in her head right now.

"Come on, he was way cute," Willow had laughed, but when Faith had continued to look at her disgruntedly, she had caved, "Okay, you can be the Lady," which had earned her a less pouty and disgruntled, but much more skeptical look. Apparently she didn't fancy _that _title either. "Eh... or we simply keep our Peanuts names," Willow, aka Woodstock, had proposed, though knowing that Faith hadn't really liked _her_ name either. But she herself still had to laugh when she thought about the similarities between Faith and Peppermint Patty.

Faith had perked up. Weirdly enough, Peppermint Patty was more preferable to her than the Lady and the Tramp combined, though she had never liked that comparison that much either. "Yeah, okay. But that means your spaghetti kissing thing won't work," she had winked.

"Hmm... guess we have to live with that," Willow had bent forth and put a spaghetti-less kiss on Faith's mouth, before they both had continued eating.

That had been the fun part; and now...

"Awww...really? Poor baby...," Faith, though also slightly amused, pulled a sympathetic face and put down her fork and plate to go to Willow. Very carefully, as not to disturb the redhead's upset stomach any further, she got in beside her, situating herself between Willow and the backrest.

Almost automatically her hand found the birdy's aching belly, nudging little Woodstock's away in doing so. For a while, Faith held it still, only putting minimal pressure on the area. Then she started moving her hand in small circles, neither too light nor too strong. Simple, soothing motions.

A groan was soon followed by a sigh, and after a few moments, Willow moved her arm, uncovering her eyes, but she didn't open them yet. "I like that," she mumbled, a little less pained now.

"I know," Faith smirked audibly. She really did know. There had been enough tummy rubbing in the past weeks, not only of the soothing kind. And actually it had been Willow doing most of the rubbing, having simply fallen in love with the little swell of Faith's belly. But she never said no whenever Faith wanted to return the gesture – especially in a situation like this.

Willow finally opened her eyes again, her hand finding the slayer-y one on her stomach, not stopping its movements, only covering it and holding on. "You don't feel ache-y?"

"Nah," Faith grinned, "slayer metabolism, you know? Guess it works a little different with us."

"Huh," Willow nodded. This was one of the situations when she envied the slayers. She had never heard Buffy complain about a too full belly, even after fairly excessive food orgies. Xander neither, she realized, pouting inwardly. Maybe this was a Willow-problem. A problem people with Willow-sized stomachs have. 'Luckily' also Joyce seemed to belong to this group – at least she had once feigned vicarious discomfort upon even only _seeing _the amount of snacks, candy and junk food on the coffee table of her living room at one of Willow, Xander and Buffy's sleepovers.

Tonight she hadn't even eaten that much, but still... "What are we gonna do with the rest?" Groaning once more, she quickly averted her eyes from the food, rather focusing on Faith and her hand.

"Hm...," the brunette looked over at the big bowl on the table, which was still almost half full, "I'll just eat that for breakfast tomorrow."

Willow frowned, "Breakfast? Not lunch, maybe?"

"Well... maybe. But, actually, I really meant breakfast. And cold, of course," she grinned down at her girlfriend... who didn't do more than throw her a disgusted look. "What? You never tried that? Whoa, you're missing out, babe. But you know what's even better? Cold pizza. One of these days we're gonna order one and leave it over night. Trust me, it'll be the best breakfast you ever had." This particular eating habit of Faith's had developed a while ago, mostly due to lack of means to reheat her takeouts back when she had still been in motel rooms and had not been wanting to throw out the leftovers. But at some point she had realized that eating pizza and pasta that way _was _indeed yummy.

A fact Willow obviously couldn't understand yet. And she probably had other problems right now. "Mmm... food talk, please... stop," she pulled a face indicating that the discomfort Faith had 'rubbed' away expertly might be returning soon, if the slayer kept on talking about cold Italian food for breakfast.

"Okay, sorry," Faith placated quickly. "How about tea talk? Want me to make you some? To help your tummy? Chamomile? Fennel? Peppermint... strawberry... cherry-vanilla...?" she frowned, "Huh, kinda still sounds like food talk," she ventured and Willow's pained look only confirmed that. "Mmmm... tea of a flavor yet-to-be-specified, yeah?" she smiled down at the redhead, her hand leaving her tummy and moving to rest around her waist.

Willow's eyes wandered over Faith's face, the mixture of love, care and still faint amusement on it warming her heart. She loved this side of her girlfriend, so much that not only sometimes she wished she could share it with someone.

She couldn't possibly tell Joyce or Oz – the only two people who knew about them... as far as she knew. Both options would feel awkward. Ex-boyfriend and unsuspecting best friend's mom. She knew she could trust them both with this. But one of them – regardless of the support he'd shown and apparent happiness for her – would hurt once again when being confronted with more details. The other one – transmitting equal support and happiness – would be burdened with more details she'd came to keep from her daughter... best friend and slaying partner for her and Faith.

And there was still one little problem... one tiny little problem ... that hindered her from talking to Xander or Buffy about those cuddly-sweet relationship details she shared with Faith – the tiny little problem of them not knowing that the relationship was even existent.

There had been moments in the past days where she had felt ready to tell them. Moments which had soon been followed by others in which she had felt relieve about not having told them already.

Fear was the main reason behind her recurring decision to put that revelation a little while longer – she knew that. She also knew that her fear only increased the longer she... _they_... waited.

Maybe the two of them just waited for the big big bang to reveal the big big secret. Something that would make it impossible for them to deny that they were dating. Have been involved for weeks, almost a month.

But until the big bang... or until one of them or both of them decided to drop the bomb themselves after all... they would be alone. And Willow wouldn't get to share relationshippy moments.

Which wasn't a bad thing per se; until the big day, she'd simply collect more and more of them – that way she had even more to tell when they were finally ready.

This moment here was definitely worth finding a mention later. Simply because it were those seemingly little things Faith did – tummy rubbing, while producing a mix of funny, barf-worthy and compassionate comments – that had made her realize several times during the last few weeks that "I love you, Faith".

Faith's face brightened upon hearing this; she loved to hear those words, especially since Will had made it more than clear that she meant it. Almost about to reply with 'I know', stating her knowledge of that fact, her mouth reconsidered and formed an "I love you too," instead.

A soft kiss on the temple and a little bit more cuddling, and then she'd get up and make the promised tea. Whatever flavor that one would have.

_to be continued... _


	50. By the book?

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended!  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

* * *

CHAPTER FIFTY --- BY THE BOOK?

After Faith had consumed her delicious breakfast, consisting of a bowl full of cold spaghetti, which she again had offered to share with Willow – strangely the redhead still preferred cereal over _that _culinary experience – they had called up their friends to see if they wanted to do anything today.

A decision had been quickly made – since there weren't any good movies on at Sunnydale's Sun Cinema during day time anyway, they had agreed on mini golfing. One of the favorite activities of Willow, Xander and Buffy. Faith... had been a little doubtful at first, never having been golfing, let alone mini golfing before.

And her skepticism had proven to be appropriate: Xander had won the little Scooby-tournament, scoring a sensational six under par total, more or less closely beating Willow with three under par. Buffy had had a hard day and eventually had to put up with a two over par. But this was nothing compared to Faith's... fifteen over par. She would hate that damn windmill forever – that much was certain.

But her mild grumpiness hadn't lasted long. Not only had not just one, not two, but three Scooby buddies offered to practice with her for a possible next time – Xander also offering to manually stop the windmill vanes long enough for Faith to take her shot – no, afterwards they had also sat down to a little ice cream session.

Banana Split, After Eight-y mint goodness, strawberry and chocolate sundaes had been served and devoured, had cheered Faith up, had sated her and the others and had rounded up this day time part of the day.

After that, now it was getting dark, Xander and Willow had gone home, while Buffy and Faith had agreed on a quick cemetery sweep. The slayers were comfortable with each other again. Buffy's apology, even though it might have been a little poor to some, had been enough for Faith – she felt accepted again, and that was more than enough for her.

* * *

One dozen vamps later, five slain by her, seven by Buffy, Faith entered the Rosenberg house, waving a "See ya" to Buffy, who made her way home as well.

The house was quiet, the lights were out, and Faith wondered, if Willow had already gone to bed. It was only ten pm, so that was unlikely.

And, really, then she found the one room in the house that had the lights still on and had Willow in it. Their bedroom.

Briefly her eyes landed on her girlfriend, who was doing some studying, it seemed. Then she took in a little plate with sandwiches standing on the bedside table. She grinned. If that was supposed to be a diversion, distracting her from Willow and her books, then it wasn't working.

Yes, she _was_ hungry – patrolling and all. She was also... well, not exactly horny… okay, maybe that too … but much more she was in need of some cuddling. And she wanted to live out this need now – spending time mini golfing with their... still... clueless friends today had minimized their couply time. But she wanted to end this day with a little bit of coupliness, at least.

Even if that was only lying together on the bed, doing nothing. And that 'nothing' included _not _having your nose in a boring textbook.

But first she walked around the bed to grab her dinner – after all, Willow wasn't the only thing she hungered for. Plus her girlfriend had put some effort into making sandwiches for her – a service which had to be fully appreciated.

Thus her moan came out extra loud as she bit into one of the yummy delicious salad and ham sandwiches, before plopping down on the bed next to Willow. Chewing pleasurably, she turned her head to look at the redhead.

Until now her girlfriend hadn't really acknowledged her presence, had been fully focused on the book, with her tongue sticking out, a pen in her hand and post-its lying next to her for note-taking. Faith smirked; she had to admit that Willow looked terribly cute studying. But there were a lot of other situations she also looked terribly cute in.

So she nudged the little wicca's leg lightly with her foot, wanting to draw her attention away from the book. But Willow just grinned, not letting Faith distract her from her mission. This one tried again, getting almost the same reaction, but this time with a slightly stronger grin.

Faith gave up – for now.

Continuing to eat her sandwiches, she let Willow do for a little while longer. But as soon as she was done chewing, smacking and moaning appreciatively, she leaned over to the redhead, "Okay, sweetie, that's enough," took the book out of her hands, "it's Friday night, for God's sake," and looked at the cover, just to see what could be so terribly important, "ergo: so not the time for study sess... Hey, wait, that's my book..."

"Reddie, what are you doing?" she soon asked, thumbing through the pages of the history book that clearly belonged to that heap of reading material she had recently brought home from the school library. What she found there, were post-its on the margins of several pages. Only then she noticed that the rest of her books had also mysteriously found their way into this room – one of them already adorned with the ominous note-papers as well, it seemed. The book was closed, but she could see these tiny yellow notes sticking out here and there.

"What's it look I'm doing here?" Willow smirked, finding the very confused expression on Faith's face funny and endearing at the same time.

"Like… you're… satisfying your need to cram my books with post-its full of smileys, hearts and stars…," the brunette replied, temporarily distracted by this sweet little show of affection, before, "…oh, wait…" she noticed the remarks and notes accompanying the symbols Willow had doodled so lovingly.

They consisted of Will's thoughts about topics discussed on the respective pages. Some summarized the most important facts, others contained little sketches and diagrams, and a few even provided mnemonic-like notes for her.

Some of the ones to remember the names of the American presidents, for instance, were unique, for sure. Who else but Faith might from now on remember Woodrow Wilson, one of the lesser known presidents, as **'think tiny yellow Peanuts birdie aka. me, plus… uh, me :)****'** or might guess her way through 'cartoon cats' names' before remembering that one president was **'Tom… no, wait, Sylvester, nah, Garfield!'**.

She laughed and looked at Willow with amusement shining in her eyes. "Wow, Will, that's really… I don't know what to say. Maybe a bit crazy…? I mean, are you planning on doing that with _all_ my books?"

But it was pretty remarkable. Two volumes, about 150 pages each, read and commented within, like, two or three hours?!

It was of course possible that Willow had known these books already, had studied their content once before. Plus, she probably knew enough about the various subjects to write cute, little post-its with learning aids on them without having to read or reread every paragraph the books had to offer.

The little human encyclopedia tilted her head, pretending to think Faith's question over. "Hm, well, I was going to. But apparently you don't really want me to…," she pouted, pointing at Faith, who had deliberately taken the book from her, had stopped her…

Nah, of course she was planning on writing more notes. It was all part of her mission to get Faith ready for high school… high school, volume two, that is. And it wasn't that she doubted Faith's ability to comprehend the topics covered, but she thought… hoped Faith would appreciate a little support, something that would save her study time. Xander and Buffy certainly did.

"Oh!" Faith exclaimed, quickly shoving the book back to Will, clearly wanting her to continue, now that she started to understand the redhead's exact plan. "Please, by all means, go on…"

Willow smiled – so it really was appreciated. "Tomorrow, okay?" she replied, earning a nod and a smile.

Yeah, that certainly made Faith twice happy. One, she'd soon have even more Willow-y learning aids with smileys and whatnot; two, she was about to get a touch of her desired couply-cuddly-time now.

Right…?

"I just thought we… well, you should start studying for your high school assessment test now," Willow continued and Faith already saw her hope fading. _Now as in… now??? _she wondered and feared that Will would hand her back that history book she had just abandoned, like, ten seconds ago.

That one or the already 'edited' chemistry book.

And Willow really did hand her back her history book – with an all-encouraging smile and a "Your test is in a few weeks."

"Yeah," Faith replied, not believing what was about to happen here. Was Willow really going to make her study on a Friday night? "Too bad Giles doesn't know the exact date yet," she tried to stall.

"So all the more wise to be prepared". It didn't seem like Willow was letting her off the hook.

Faith was all for studying; she wanted to go back to high school and make everyone who cared proud of her. But… Friday night was just so damn wrong…

"Can we start preparing tomorrow?" she put on her sweetest smile, hoping they could reach a compromise.

And to her surprise, Willow accepted. "Of course. If you promise me you're really starting then," she added with a mild admonishing gesture.

"Yes, Ma'am!" Faith quickly bent forth and kissed Willow, sealing their agreement. Tomorrow was fine. Well, at least finer than tonight. Because she didn't have any concrete cuddle plans for tomorrow yet.

Depositing the book next to her, lying down and position her head in a still sitting Willow's lap, she quickly worked on executing her tonight's plans, however.

Willow shook her head with a smile, looking down on the happily grinning face. Drawing her hand to Faith's soft hair and twirling it around her finger, she just hoped that her girlfriend would really start sticking her nose into the books tomorrow and not find a way to weasel her way out of it.

Xander was one of those types who were pretty good at that; Buffy came at a close second. Hopefully Faith wouldn't be as weasely.

For now, the brunette and she herself, as she had to admit, were pretty content with just being here on the bed together – not studying.

But apparently talking about studying was still okay; at least Faith started, "So, do you do this with your books too? The doodling and note-sticking?"

"Not so much. And if I do, the post-its don't usually have smileys and hearts on them," she pouted, earning a 'poor-you' look from Faith.

"Well, if you want some, just ask and I'll see what I can do. I'm not the most expert doodler in the world, though, so I don't know if they'll be any good".

"Hey, most girls have that doodle power," Willow encouraged vehemently. "You should see Buffy's class notes. And Joyce isn't much better – I once saw something she had drawn while talking to someone on the phone".

"Joyce doodles?" Faith asked surprised. Of course she could see Buffy doodling and could imagine that the little blonde had inherited this habit from her mother, that Joyce had done some scribbling too in younger years. But that she still did this now…?

"Yeah, I guess," Willow smirked. "But, uh…," trying to remember what they had been talking about before the doodle dialogue, she then continued, "oh! You know what? Right now I'm working on something new for studying in college. Nothing precise yet, but it'll be all about color coding…," she said obscurely, waiting for a reaction.

"Color coding, huh?" Faith took the bait. "Sounds interesting. Let me know when you're finished with planning and all. If that system works, I might adopt it," she grinned.

"Okay," Willow smiled back.

They both were happy that they finally could talk to each other about college and college-related topics. It was still unclear, where Willow would end up eventually, and so every now and then they spent time looking at brochures and internet pages. Even of colleges Willow was little likely to attend. No doubt Faith was thinking about that, when she now asked, "Hey, what's the name of that German thingie again?"

"You wanna kill me?!" the redhead replied laughing. She knew exactly which German thingie Faith was talking about. But the name was just impossible to pronounce – hell, it was hard to remember even!

'_Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule__ Aachen'._ Five much too long words with letter combinations worthy getting a nervous meltdown over. Thankfully, a lot of people seemed to be familiar with the simplified and abbreviated international name of the school, _'RWTH Aachen University'_, which made things a lot easier for non-Germans.

"Well, no, that would be baaad. Especially since you still gotta post-it-summarize my textbooks for me," the slayer countered, patting Will's leg from where she was still lying with her head in this one's lap.

"Great, so that's what I am for you," Willow replied mock-offended, "your study guide…".

"Yes, you're my personal study guide with girlfriend modus," Faith put on a saccharine smile, getting up on her knees, facing Willow. Red pouted, clearly unhappy with this statement. "Or simply my snugly, funny, cute one and only girlfriend… the study guide being just a tiny part of the package," the brunette pacified inching closer to pouty Will, puppy dog eyes full on.

"That's better," Willow readily agreed to this; plus…she couldn't possibly resist that look on Faith's face. She leaned in to capture the brunette's lips in what was supposed to be a short little conciliatory kiss. But Faith had other plans apparently.

Not letting go off Red's lips, she snuck one of her strong arms around Willow's waist and drew her into a lying position. Now side by side on the bed, the kissing went on for a good long while, had Willow already thinking that Faith would start stripping her naked any second now – with the slayer's hand having snuck under her shirt and all.

Just lying here, cuddling and smooching or sex - she was fine either way.

Or maybe some more talking? Because suddenly Faith broke their kiss, looked at her gently, hand still tucked away under Willow's shirt, before she spoke again, "But thank you, you know. I guess not everybody would be that willing to help another person with the big bad academics. Girlfriend or not."

Willow smiled, "Anytime. And maybe it's not necessarily the big_ bad_ academics, but rather the big _boring_ one. Hard to imagine, but there are books that even bore me to death." Not really subconsciously, her eyes landed on Faith's pile of books. At least one of them was apparently among them.

Faith laughed at the funny expression that had appeared on Willow's face, replying, "Oh, I know something that makes those look as exciting as thrillers. Ever heard of the slayer handbook?" she wiggled her eyebrows expectantly.

Willow halted for a moment, before she asked astonished "You actually read it?", knowing a certain blonde who…

"So B didn't, huh?"

"No. When Kendra – you know, the slayer called before you – first came here," Willow explained and Faith nodded, having heard about her, "she told us that it actually existed. Giles hadn't mentioned it to Buffy. But when Kendra brought it up, he muttered something about thinking it wouldn't be of use in Buffy's case. Maybe you can imagine how offended she was after that."

And Faith could! A sound somewhere between a snicker and a snort escaped her mouth, before she started laughing fully, soon being joined by Willow. "But she's still lucky," the brunette added, when she finally managed to get her laughing somewhat under control.

"She'll be happy to hear that," Willow still snickered on lightly. "So did you read it because you wanted to or…"

"No… Apparently my watcher didn't think my case was worthy of _not_ being forced to read it," the younger girl started. "So she made me sit through all six hundred something pages and even quizzed me about what I read later."

From Faith's look and her stating that the book was probably one of the most boring ones ever, Willow felt that this must have been a very painful event. "So, what's actually in it? I mean, six hundred pages? That's got to be a lot of info there."

"You'd think that, right?" Faith replied with raised eyebrows. "Well, okay, some stuff was in Latin and Greek and whatnot, so luckily there were some pages I could skip without feeling guilty about it. The rest… most of it was pretty outdated; you really notice that it was written a long time ago. But there were parts about fighting techniques and weapons and stuff; that was pretty cool. Hm, oh, and the qualities a slayer should possess". Adopting a strange British accent, the accent of choice for watchers, she told Willow exactly what these qualities were, "agility, clarity, strength, and…," she grinned, "stamina".

"Right…," Willow stated amused; leave it to Faith to make it sound all sexual.

But then the brunette became a little more serious, "Well, the newer passages, I guess, deal with the slayer and the Watcher's Council. How she's basically their instrument and all that. Not the funnest chapters, for sure."

Willow shook her head, her mood quickly adjusting to Faith's. This only solidified her view of those guys. Who else would come up with something as sick as the Cruciamentum for when… if a slayer turns eighteen. Not that they'd mention that event in their handbook, of course – it wouldn't be a surprise for the slayer anymore.

As far as she was concerned, those guys probably also had ways to get rid of slayers, and watchers even, who didn't follow their rules. They probably preferred slayers like Kendra and watchers like Wesley. Faith and Buffy sometimes being too rebellious for their liking, Giles already having seen the consequences of disobeying the Council. Comparatively mild consequences, however. After all, he had only lost his job. She just hoped that neither slayer would ever fall out of the Council's good graces. Because then the outcome might be less unpleasant

Looking at Faith, she saw the too grim expression on this one's face – not an unusual reaction when thinking about the Council. She felt that she probably didn't look much different right now.

No… this wasn't the right topic for a Friday night that could be all snugly.

Maybe they'd discuss the details of what the book said about the Council and other things later someday, maybe not. Maybe she'd simply ask Faith for the book … if Faith still had it somewhere, that is. Thus far, she hadn't seen anything in Faith's belongings that looked like it could be the aforementioned book.

Well, she could always ask Giles for Buffy's copy. After all, it probably still lay untouched in a dark and dusty corner.

But for now it was better to get their minds away from that topic. "Baby? What do you say… enough talking for now?" she started with an encouraging tone.

"Okay," Faith agreed with a smile, feeling that Willow was doing this on purpose, wanted her to stop thinking about all this. "Got something else planned instead?" She certainly could think of some things. Her hand had made a nice move earlier, had reminded her of just how good Willow's silky-soft skin felt under her fingers. Her mind had definitely switched from maybe-just-cuddling-mode to more-than-that-mode then.

But, "Well, sleeping sounds like fun…," Will replied instead, immediately earning an incredulous look from Faith. "Joking," she corrected. And then, finally, "Hm… well, you could always show me just how much stamina you got in ya, Slayer," she smirked seductively, referring to one of the few fun parts the handbook had to offer – at least it had made Faith grin before.

And again right now – Red's answer was playing into her hands. "Oh, really?" Quickly, her hand made a move to explore the area hidden beneath Will's shirt further, massaging her back softly.

"Uh-huh," the redhead smiled, loving the warm hand that now wandered over to her front.

But before she continued, Faith's eyes casually went to the curtains of the panorama window. _Closed. Guess she knew that studying wouldn't be in order tonight. _Then concentrating on the wall clock, "Let's see… it's half past ten. So, I guess your precious sleep will have to wait until about five to six in the morning…" Hey, Will had brought this whole stamina thing up again…

"Now I think you're exaggerating a little," Willow laughed, already being straddled by Faith, shirt being pulled off.

"We'll see".

_to be continued..._

* * *

A/N: Sorry, guys, not much going on in this comparatively short chapter. I just didn't want you to have to wait too long for an update. And I know most of you are wondering, when the rest of the Scoobies will finally find out about Reddie and Faithie… I promise you – it won't be long anymore :)


	51. Issues

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended!  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

* * *

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE --- ISSUES

Willow had been right. Faith _had_ exaggerated just a liiiiittle bit.

It hadn't been around six a.m. when they had fallen asleep after their latest sexy-session. No, it had only been shortly after midnight. Which was still more than enough for them both. Tired but very happy, they had slept the morning away. At eleven a.m., they had eventually gotten up, and much to Willow's surprise, Faith had been willing to get to work right away.

Briefly stopping for a little brain fodder-y brunch, she had then sat down with one of her books – the choice being between chemistry and history, the two volumes Willow had worked on the day before – and had spent hours studying, letting nothing interrupt her.

Maybe it was because of the book she had grabbed – history, for her being more interesting and easier to comprehend than chemistry. But Willow's post-its probably had a lot to do with it as well – the history simply contained more of them!

The redhead herself – pleased with seeing Faith so eager, much more eager than she had expected, as she had to admit – had left her girlfriend alone in her room, where this one had chosen to study. She had used this quiet Saturday afternoon to first finish some of her next week's homework and then spend a little time with two more of Faith's books.

Well into the evening, they had decided to conclude this today's study- and post-it-marathon with a copious dinner. Willow knew about the brunette's problems with sitting still for a longer period of time, let alone concentrating for several hours straight, so it had really surprised her that Faith had kept it up this long.

They had taken their time eating their well-deserved dinner together, afterwards Willow loading the dish washer and clearing the mild mess in the kitchen, while Faith took care of the living room – here and there a few things were lying around. Empty chips bags, a few dirty glasses, clothes.

Being done with her chores, the ringing telephone had then hindered her from going into the kitchen and seeing, if she could still help Will with anything. Usually she didn't answer the phone, being as, apart from the Scoobies, nobody knew that she lived here.

However, since she had recognized the caller ID, it had been okay for her to pick up the phone. Since it had been was only…

"Reddie, that was B on the phone. I'm gonna go patrolling with her, okay?" she now quickly stuck her head through the kitchen door, making sure Willow understood her, before making her way to her room, intending on changing out of her sweat pants and shirt and into her 'slaying gear' – which most of the times consisted of tank top or sweater and leather pants. Buffy still wondered how the hell she could run in something as tight, with hardly any give; she just kept replying that it's all a question of practice.

But thinking of B and especially patrolling with B suddenly reminded her something.

"What? Wait, Faith…" Apparently Willow remembered it too. Having followed Faith quickly, she now was in the doorway, watching the brunette slipping out of her clothes. "She told us yesterday she was gonna go with Angel".

After having heard that and having been told by Xander that he also had plans for tonight already – which had made his girls a little suspicious, since he refused to tell them where he was going – Willow had already planned out a quiet, twosome-y and couch patato-y evening for her and Faith - following a long day of studying.

After all, all work and no play ...

That seemed to Buffy's motto as well. And thus she had wooed Angel into going out with her. Little patrol and a movie. A hopefully G-rated movie this time, as Willow had joked, earning a blushing look from Buffy and a naughty smirk from Faith.

Anyway, it should have been the perfect slayer date for Buffy and Angel.

But now… they weren't going?

"Yeah, I know," Faith finally replied, mumbling the words into the shirt she was just pulling over her head and off her body.

Ignoring the little striptease her sexy slayer was spoiling her with here – all Faith was wearing now was her underwear, Willow pressed, "What did she say?" As far as she was concerned, this apparent sudden change of plans wasn't common. Something was up.

Faith glanced sideways from where she was pulling a pair of, yes, leather pants out of her closet. From her girlfriend's look, she knew that her explanation should for one thing be as detailed as possible – which wouldn't be easy, since the talk itself had only been about a minute long – and for another should also include, how the little blonde had sounded, pretty please…

"Well, not much," she finally started. "She just said that Angel cancelled their date, though back on Wednesday he had agreed to go with her and stuff. She sounded pretty upset, not sad or anything, but confused. Like she thinks that something's happened". She buttoned her pants and quickly pulled on a sweater. "And she said she'd be here in a few, so I'd better get ready".

With that, she went over to her dresser to pick out her weapons for the night. And left Willow to her thoughts. Thoughts that soon took on nightmarish dimensions; not concerning an impending apocalypse… which would be a valuable reason for cancelling a date… but concerning an impending break-up. Though that might be a little far-fetched, she hoped. But relationship troubles of any kind were unwelcome.

She had to know what was going on with her best friend, had to know what had happened and how and if she could help. And right now the most convenient way to find out...

"I'm coming with," she said with such certainty and conviction it was startling.

And startle it did Faith. Whipping her head around, body following a lot slower, she nearly dropped the stake she had just retrieved from the dresser and was about to tuck away in her waistband.

She stared intently at Willow, trying to figure out, if this one was serious. And Willow was. She knew that face… that infamous resolve face.

"Will… come on…," Faith pleaded. This couldn't be happening. Hadn't she – merely to days ago - sworn to Buffy that it would be a damn long time till she took Willow or Xander or, dammit, any other civilian on patrol again? Afraid of any more sharp fangs in innocent necks dramas? And now the redhead seriously asked... no, from the look on her face... _demanded_ to come along?

Not that she couldn't understand her, couldn't understand Willow's concern about her best friend's relationship with the vampire. But... goddammit... did she have to come on patrol to find out what was going on?!

"You... You can call her later, okay? Ask her what's up...? Or I'll bring her here afterwards," she said with a hopeful look in her eyes.

Willow knew where Faith was coming from. Saw her fear. She was about to agree to Faith's proposal about bringing Buffy here, but... thinking about it... the blonde wasn't the only reason reason she wanted to go on patrol. She also wanted to prove that she could take care of herself and actually of a vamp or two, if she was alert.

Last week had been an exception. A bad one. Usually things like this didn't happen to them. Usually even a little distraction didn't stop them from being effective in their slayage.

Tonight's patrol would very probably involve talking – one reason she wanted to go - and of course this could be considered a risk. But she'd also have _two _slayers by her side, in case things really went down; thus she felt on the safe side, it was a good opportunity to show Faith that there was hardly anything to worry about. "Let me come. Please... It won't be like last week, Faith," she put on a small smile.

Faith remembered that Buffy _had _pointed out Will's stubbornness to her.

But was this really stubbornness? The resolve face had made room for puppy dog eyes- that kind of look no one could resist, especially on Willow's face. She had an idea what was going on in Red's head, yet... this was just too soon. Right...?

She struggled with herself. She knew she'd regret a 'yes', if things went wrong again, and this time probably no one would take her side; they'd all attack her. But a 'no' would only lead to a this time indeed stubborn 'why?' on Will's part, with resolve face and puppy dog eyes combining their power. The ultimate weapon.

And as the doorbell rang, announcing Buffy's arrival, Faith finally caved. "Fine. Come," she muttered, which earned her a quick hug and a peck on the cheek by Willow, before this one went to her room, presumably to change her clothes quickly.

"But if a vamp comes and bites your ass, don't blame me," she tried to joke. Walking through the hall to let Buffy in, her mind kept repeating, _I'll just do that myself_.

* * *

Needless to say, Buffy was surprised when she saw Willow accompanying them five minutes later. Not because the redhead had gotten her will – she had been certain this would happen eventually. But because it happened so soon after the accident.

Looking at Faith's rather unhappy expression, she knew the decision hadn't been an easy one. Willow looked less unhappy, more determined and empathetic, apparently already imagining all sorts of things that had kiboshed her date with Angel.

Truth be told, there wasn't much Buffy could tell them both on their way to the cemetery. Visiting him earlier to check if they were still on for the date – normally she called people to ask about things like that, but him being a century-old vampire living in a crypt without electricity made that a little complicated – she had immediately noticed that something was off. The vampire had seemed pensive; it had been his usual broodiness, however, something had been bothering him, something he hadn't been willing to share with her.

He had finally confessed that maybe a date wouldn't be the best idea tonight, not engaging in Buffy's questions about the reason for the cancellation and his general behavior. He couldn't possibly tell her that Joyce had caused him to act this way.

Unsuspecting about what her mom had told her boyfriend, Buffy had departed, missing the soft 'I'm sorry' the vampire had whispered her way...

Willow and Faith listened carefully to the blonde's story, followed with fruitless attempts at guessing what might have happened. Buffy put an end to this at some point, knowing that all this wouldn't lead them anywhere, but thankful that her friends tried to make her feel a little better.

Concluding with things would hopefully look better in a day or two, Buffy decided they should now really concentrate on the thing she had called Faith – and Willow – for. Patrolling – without accidents.

And this time it worked. Nothing happened. Not in a bad way, anyway. It was a slow night; they had probably killed all the newbie-vamps in the nights before. And the more experienced ones were too clever to hide out in cemeteries…

One single vampire dared to show up, but he didn't even stand a minimal chance against the three girls. Being as alert as Willow had promised, they handled the situation with ease, Buffy actually being the one staking him in the end, assisted by Faith, who delivered a nasty blow to his head and Willow, who threw her the stake she had dropped earlier in the fight.

With no more vampires or other demonic creatures lurking about, they decided to call it a night. However, Willow was reminded of a suggestion Faith had made earlier and wasn't willing to simply let Buffy make her way home. Though the situation with Angel didn't seem as bad as initially feared, a little more distraction wouldn't harm the blonde.

Thus Willow decided to invite her over for a couple of hours. Unseen by her girlfriend and her fellow slayer, Faith shook her head with an almost amused smile. If she hadn't had a slim idea what Will's second reason for coming along on patrol had been, she would now have been a little pissed.

Well, maybe 'pissed' was too strong a word. But she would have been angry with her. Solely coming along to talk relationship with her best friend, when they could have done that equally as well in the safety of their home, as she had suggested...

Definitely not a good move.

But since she knew what also had been going on in Will's mind when she had convinced her to take her along with, she felt... better. This patrol hadn't been enough to put her at ease entirely. Too inexperienced and 'easy' that _one_ vampire had been.

It would take time and several patrols till taking Willow with her would be 'routine' for the brunette slayer again, but the witch's begging and talking her into this had been a step in the right direction.

Feeling more relaxed about this now, however, she was ready for a little down time with Will and B. They ended up in front of the TV, with popcorn and crackers. A little comfort food, even though Buffy didn't really need it.

Their movie of choice was one of those girly comedies Faith couldn't care about less. And maybe, really...just maybe... this was the reason Buffy, halfway through the movie, had to nudge her redheaded best friend, who was sitting next to her on one of the couches, to point out to her that Faith had fallen asleep.

The brunette had curled on the other couch and was now snoring peacefully. Neither of them knew when exactly Faith's mind and body had decided to tune out; however, now that they had noticed it, the slayer was almost impossible to ignore.

She was hardly loud enough to drown out the movie; but the snores, from time to time disrupted by indistinguishable murmur, were pretty amusing.

For Willow they were heart-warming as well. This habit of Faith's was familiar to her. Thus she simply replied with a "She does that a lot" and barely managed to keep that loving smile on her face under control, when Buffy asked her about this after the movie was over, wondering if she or the chick-flick had bored Faith this much.

Getting up to finally make her way home - her mom was probably worrying about her long absence - she offered in all seriousness to carry her fellow slayer to bed. Willow declined, telling her that Faith would be fine.

Honestly... come morning, her girlfriend would probably kill her for letting her sleep on the couch again. On the other hand, she would be embarrassed, if she found out that Buffy had carried her to bed.

Picking up a blanket, she covered Faith with it, before kneeling down and combing her fingers through the dark hair, careful not to wake the girl.

She was glad things tonight had worked out as planned. She knew she had put Faith through some pain earlier, especially since all this one wanted was to protect her. But now they were okay, hopefully. The calm expression on Faith's face seemed proof that she wasn't plagued by any angst-ridden dreams.

Giving her a kiss on the temple, she went to her room. Feeling at least a little bit guilty about not taking Faith with her to the more comfortable bed.

* * *

A massage the next morning had made Faith's mild back pain and also Willow's guilt go away. Waking up on the couch, Faith had had an idea of how things had played out last night. She had remembered having missed the end of that movie and that the last thing she'd seen before falling asleep had been a redhead and a blonde on the couch across the way.

She hadn't been embarrassed by Buffy witnessing one of her infamous tuning-out-in-front-of-the-TV-sessions; at least less embarrassed than she would have been, if Willow had accepted Buffy's offer.

The most part of the day, Faith had spent in her own room with her books, letting Willow do her thing. It was already well into the evening, when Faith's mind decided it had enough of studying history and made her get up from her bed and wander around the Rosenberg home. Checking by the kitchen to see, if there were any munchies left in the fridge and finding nothing really interesting in there, only milk, sandwich toast, a couple of eggs and cold cuts, so really nothing that seemed appropriate as a small snack after the dinner they had consumed two hours before, she went into the living room to pick up the TV Guide. Whose content excited her even less than the fridge's.

And thus she made her way to the one thing in the house that could always arouse her interesting, no matter what. She had planned on going there eventually anyway. Finding the room with the girly furnishing and the many stuffed animals and posters, she saw that one thing... that cute, freckled and red haired thing lying on its bed, face down, nose in a book.

Willow had been doing that for some hours now, having told Faith about a physics test she had to write tomorrow. The redhead knew what the test would be about and knew pretty much anything about the topic by heart – down to the smallest details. But she simply felt better knowing she wasn't attending a test without any preparation – necessary or not.

For a few moments, Faith simply wandered around the room, standing at the window, looking out into the night, pretending she was willing to let Willow study.

But she wasn't. Veeery innocently her hands worked on closing the curtains, gaining them some more privacy. Willow didn't really need to study, she knew that, and she herself was...

Kneeling down next to Will's bed, head cradled in her folded arms... "Booooored...," as she informed her girlfriend. And she knew what would definitely help with that boredom.

Getting no reaction from Willow, she moved her hand to the text book, letting it cover the page the redhead was reading just now. "Wi-ill...," she added grouchily. Maybe that would do the trick and stop Willow's unnecessary study session.

"Now, not with the whining," her girlfriend replied, moving Faith's hand away and feigning an irritated look, which turned into a small smile, glancing at the disgruntled expression on the slayer's face. "Let me study a bit, okay?"

"You _have _been studying a _bit _for the last _few_ hours," Faith replied. Really, sometimes little studyholics could be quite annoying. There were definitely funner things they could do right now.

"True... and I wanna study some more. You should do that too". She was... partly serious about it. At least that way she had a chance to concentrate on her book. Of course she was okay with whatever Faith did now, as long as she didn't interrupt her.

Faith crawled on the bed, exasperated tone in her voice, "I did study for seven hours straight, considering my ADD I'd say that's actually worth a praise," lying on her side, she gave Willow on expecting look.

_Weird how yesterday that hadn't been a problem, _Willow grinned inwardly, "Okay, yes, it's really awesome that you worked this long," she said quickly, before turning her attention to her book again.

Not satisfied with this seemingly little heartfelt reply, Faith pouted distinctively. Plus, Willow simply continuing with her learning wasn't really what she wanted.

Of course the redhead noticed this – Faith's face lying only inches away from her book didn't make that extremely hard. Leaning down, she put a kiss on the edge of the pouty mouth. "Really... really awesome," she whispered in a gentle tone, kissing Faith yet again.

And this one reacted; turning her head to face Willow just a little more, she could see pride shimmering in the little wicca's eyes. Trading her pout for smile, she captured Red's red-soft lips. Gently at first, but soon getting more eager. And when Willow put her hand behind her head, she was already thinking she had finally reached her goal. Had gotten her girl's mind off that stupid book.

But then Willow broke their kiss, gave her one last loving look, before... once again eyeing the reading material right in front of her.

Faith frowned. Okay, the hand caressing the back of her neck was nice, very nice; _still_ that didn't mean she was happy with what Willow was doing _again_.

Playing nice, she let Willow continue for a couple of minutes, before, "Will?" she tried again and earned a little inquiring grunt, which made her follow with an "I'm still... booooored".

She knew that part of her was being selfish. Two days ago already she had tried to hinder Willow from studying, only to then find out that the redhead had been working on her books. And now she was doing it again... Selfish, selfish... but it showed just how much she loved that little bookworm. But she simply loved her more when her nose was 'bookfree' and her eyes were focused on _her_.

Willow, however, "You sound like a five-year-old child," now sounded a little more exasperated, yet didn't let that exasperation creep into the fingers massaging Faith's scalp. "Why don't you go watch TV?"

"Don't wanna," the Red-proclaimed five-year-old replied, "There's not really anything on. Unless you're turned on by _The Wonderful World of Disney_, that is".

Willow raised her eyebrows, wondering what could be wrong with that. Well, apart from using 'turned on' and 'Disney' in one and the same sentence. Apparently Faith wasn't a Disney-fan. Maybe that was the reason Faith hadn't liked her The-Lady-and-The-Tramp-scenario earlier this week. A Peanuts-marathon was probably more to her liking. Possibly even without falling asleep during. "Well, how about my laptop? I've got some games on there, if you wanna play...," she finally suggested.

Faith turned her head to look at the computer on Will's desk. The redhead's proposal sounded potentially interesting. Normally she wasn't a gamer, which was also due to the lack of opportunity. Still living in early 1999, not everyone was in possession of their very own personal computer.

The brunette had certainly never owned one; her watcher used to have a computer, but she had hardly been allowed to use it. Not that there had been anything remotely interesting on it, just lots and lots of research material. Pretty similar to the 'dread machine' in Giles' office, which, of course, the good old Brit hardly used. And even the few students' computers in the library were nearly devoid of games.

Her eyes went back and forth between her sweet little Will and the sweet little laptoppy invention. Tough decision. But eventually, "Okay, cool, " she got up from the comfy position she had wriggled into and walked over to retrieve the laptop.

Quickly Willow gained her access to the properly password-protected device and showed her where to find the games in question. Of course now she expected Faith to be heading to her own room to gamble undisturbed. After all, that was one of the advantages of a laptop – you could carry it everywhere and do your work in the most absurd places. Plus, she'd have the chance to get some more re-reading done.

Little did she know that Faith's plans – for _both_ of them - were _entirely_ different.

_To be continued..._

* * *

**A/N:** This one would have been a very long chapter, so I decided to split it up into two, maybe three chapters (unnecessary information *lol*). Anyway, next week I'll have some days off, and I'm looking forward to get a lot more writing on this story done than on work days - unless something gets in the way :P


	52. A bean bag of troubles

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. No copyright infringement intended!  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

**A/N**: Wrote part of this chapter sitting in a bean bag. Why I'm telling you this? Don't know... maybe just because a comfy little thing like this plays a role in the first scene ;)

* * *

CHAPTER FIFTY_TWO --- A (BEAN) BAG OF TROUBLES

How quickly a five-year-old brat could turn back into the sixteen-year-old minx she really was... Willow could hardly believe what had happened and was still happening right before her eyes.

About an hour ago, she had set up her laptop for Faith to use and play and distract her from the expressed boredom her girlfriend had been in apparently. And ever since then, Faith had done her best to distract _her _instead.

It all had started when the brunette had dragged the bean bag normally sitting near Willow's closet to the center of the room and had sunk down in it.

Directly in the redhead's line of sight. Positioning herself in a way that made sure Willow had a good view on _everything_ she had to offer.

Of course, if Red's eyes had been stolidly focused on the book... she would had missed Faith's... well, efforts. Would have missed Faith lasciviously relaxing her muscular legs from time to time because that laptop was just so _damn_ heavy on her thighs. Would have missed Faith stretching her torso at regular intervals, emphasizing her puppies and occasionally letting show parts of her tummy underneath her shirt. Would have missed Faith moving her hair out of her neck, putting this soft patch of skin fully on display.

The only times Willow had had a chance to calm down had been moments in which Faith had really concentrated on the games. There was one game – Gotcha, a cops and robbers version of the good old Pacman that had been of particular interest for the slayer. With her tongue sticking out in concentration, she had chased her bandits through alleys and corners, collecting diamonds and money bags, always merely one step ahead of the police.

Even this tiny movement of her tongue, as unconscious as this one had probably been for a change, hadn't gone unnoticed by Willow. Faith had definitely aroused more than just the redhead's interest.

Sideways glances at her girlfriend always had Faith well informed about the effects she had on her; and even the quickly downcast eyes, the feigned interest in her book every time she looked her way, couldn't keep Faith from the satisfying thought that she had her girlfriend right where she wanted her.

Finally finishing her game and shutting down the computer, she made a move to get up. Which was harder than expected.

Beanbags... tricky.

Beanbag plus laptop... even trickier.

She put the computer down on the ground and tried that getting-up thingie once more.

Again she failed. A mildly frustrated grunt emanating Faith and sounds emanating the bag that would make almost everyone blush with an 'it-wasn't-me'-look on their face the only results of that second attempt.

Third time is the charm, she decided, a plan forming in her head. The normal lean forth, get up and out movement generally used to maneuver oneself out of most kinds of seating furniture obviously wasn't working as planned; she had to outsmart that stupid bag with an unorthodox move.

And thus... slickly leaning sidewards, she rolled off the bag, landing on Will's carpet on all fours. As well-coordinated as her movements usually were, that one must have looked particularly unsexy to anyone witnessing it.

Or maybe just terribly amusing.

The smirk on Will's face only proved that.

_I'll show you_, Faith though, quickly regaining her grace and nearing the bed with the redhead on it. Looking down again, that little witch could pretend all she wanted she hadn't been watching her rolling-maneuver and every single move she had cooked up in the last hour.

Not wasting any more time, she moved onto the bed and straight onto Willow, straddling her butt. "Saw that smirk," she grinned, innocently moving her hands up to Will's shoulders and leaning down, "and every glance my way before that," she whispered, voice getting huskier, "which only proves one thing... your book obviously isn't as interesting as you pretend it is," she concluded, moving the red hair away and kissing her girlfriend's cheek.

Willow kept ignoring her, simply pretended she wasn't there.

But Faith didn't let up.

A high pitched yelp escaped Willow's lips, not because Faith's hands were cold or anything, but because they had moved from her shoulders to her waist and under the pajama top she was already wearing in a fraction of a second.

The brunette caressed her slowly, drawing small circles on her lower back. She moved to a kneeling position, pulling Willow up a little, just enough so she could reach the buttons on the pj top's front.

She took some time unbuttoning the top, making sure to distract the redhead fully from her studies. "Come on... you know you want to," she grinned, feeling Willow fighting inwardly, but also starting to respond subconsciously, supporting herself with her arms, gaining Faith easier access.

A long fight seemed to nearing an end. Was Willow really giving in or would she give her the brushoff at the very last minute after all? She had to make sure that wouldn't happen.

And thus she moved fast, her left hand trying to sneak under the white top Willow was wearing underneath, intending to rub her girlfriend's tummy."Damn, Red, how many layers of clothes do you have under there? Isn't it warm enough in Sunny-D?" she murmured, struggling to reach her goal. And, really, it was a warm night; she herself was only wearing a white top and black biker shorts.

If Willow had really been cold before, she was now warming up quickly. To Faith, Faith's hands and the desire vibrating from the younger girl. The reasonable part of her brain was still fighting, though, wanted her to continue studying... something she hadn't been able to do in the last hour. But as the hand on her stomach wandered southwards, the more lust-driven part kept informing her over and over that it was fruitless to continue what she had been trying to do here and just give in.

Another, "Come on," whispered into her ear finally broke Will's will.

"Okay," she shoved her book to the side and lay on her back, facing Faith. "But if I fail that test, you are getting punished!"

"Oooh, why, Miss Rosenberg," Faith smirked naughtily, "are you trying to turn me on?"

"I think I don't have to...," Willow squeaked out, feeling Faith's hands move again. She hoped Faith wouldn't always be horny and needy when she tried to get something for school done; otherwise she'd have to put her foot down eventually. For now she didn't fight it; after all, it wasn't a bad thing Faith was doing to her.

Swiftly the jacket was shoved off her shoulders, before hungry lips moved to kiss the newly exposed flesh. Sucking, Nibbling. Shoulders, neck, chest. Willow felt a low, demanding moan rattle her body, even lower than one Faith was breathing out seconds later.

Willow noticed the by now all too familiar signs of arousal taking over her body. That 'tickle' Faith loved to talk about. It wasn't only 'down low', it was spreading fast, down to her toes, making them curl, and up to her neck, currently the main attraction for the brunette.

One part of her, however, was missing out on the tickling the brunette currently produced. And thus she buried her hand in Faith's long, dark hair, putting a little force behind her digits, giving Faith a sign about where exactly she wanted to feel her girlfriend's lips now. On her own.

The slayer obliged, almost overpowering the redhead with her fierceness and resoluteness. Soon Willow felt a familiar, Faith-y tongue wandering about in her mouth, staking out its territory, before retreating and letting Willow's do the same. While their tongues were busy doing that, Willow's hands roamed, caressing her girlfriend's neck and back, slowly edging down and reaching for the hem of Faith's top, tugging on it.

The slayer got the message, sat up and pulled off her shirt. With nothing even remotely resembling a bra being in the game, she now was pretty much naked waist upwards. _If only I wasn't the only one, _she grinned to herself and decided to go back to her original agenda.

The witch already expected her to make quick work of them – knowing that her girlfriend had probably been turned on for a little longer now and at this point wanted nothing more than to get her butt-naked. Literally speaking – though puppy-naked and tummy-naked and everything-else-naked had to also be crossing Faith's mind.

But rather than hands crawling over Will's body and under her clothes to caress and very soon after expose more of the much beloved Willow-skin, it was the mouth that approached her again first. Kissing her lips over and over, now less fierce, but certainly equally determined as they had been seconds ago.

However, soon Willow noticed one of the hands. First gently cupping her cheek, staying still for long moments. Then moving lower, tracing the outlines of her neck, collarbone, shoulder, gliding over her arm and reaching her waist.

Things didn't stop there. Faith's real intentions, the hand's real purpose became clear when Willow felt herself being scooped up into a sitting position, Faith's hand supporting her back. The free hand pulled at the unnecessary white top and soon removed it from Willow's sexy body.

_Now we're talking, _she grinned and pressed Willow's finally naked torso to her own. Happily surprised she noticed her girlfriend's touches on her legs, slowly traveling up and over her biker shorts, reaching their hem. Purring softly, she acknowledged the sudden presence of the redhead's fingers beneath the elastic material, playing, tickling, teasing.

Just when Willow was about to peel the shorts off Faith's tushy and legs... the phone rang.

"Ignore it," Faith pleaded. Willow wanted to protest, but her girlfriend's, well, need to get naked was overwhelming. So she let it ring, went on removing the shorts with Faith's help, hearing a relieved sigh when the phone finally stopped.

Without missing a beat, she got rid off her own bottoms, before Faith attacked her again, covering her body with her own. But Faith didn't get a chance to make any use of this neat position, because... the phone... rang yet... again.

She thought about ignoring it once again – this had worked a few moments ago. Willow, however, sent her a 'This-might-be-important'-look and she had to agree reluctantly. And if it wasn't, she'd put that person on the other end of the line through some serious pain.

Picking up the handset and handing it to Willow, she perked up her ears. After all, she had to know whom she had to possibly inflict pain on.

"Hello?" Willow answered, sending Faith an apologetic look.

"Willow," they heard a familiar British voice over the speaker, "I-I apologize for calling at this late hour..."

"Giles?" She was immediately alert. Giles didn't usually call her. Especially not in the middle of the night. Only when something really bad had happened. "W-What's going on?"

"I went to the library earlier today to research some things..."

In any other situation, they would have made fun of this. Giles, the ever-devoted watcher and librarian, who couldn't stay away from his work for longer than a day or two.

Bur not tonight.

Because what Giles barely got out now was really nothing to joke about, "They're... the books... the Books of Ascension... someone... they've been stolen".

* * *

Forty-five minutes later... "Sorry we're late," Willow apologized, her and Faith stumbling through the front door of Giles' apartment. On their way here, she had had a feeling that they'd be the last to arrive. Usually it would only take them fifteen minutes from their home to Giles's, but... tonight things had taken a bit longer.

They had needed a while to maneuver themselves out of bed; the practically-being-naked-part – barring a few exceptions – had made things a little harder, though their willingness... well, Willow's willingness for any sort of sexual activity had disappeared the second she had heard about the stolen books. It had been more difficult for Faith, since the brunette had been fighting to get Willow's full attention for over an hour, and now – finally having reached her goal – had had a hard time simply cooling down and focusing on what was important.

An extensive shower had calmed her body, but had done little to cool her horny mind. Seeing naked Willow rushing into the shower moments after she had stepped out, hadn't made things any easier. Willow's 'cleaning act' had taken a lot less time, but still too long to not keep the others waiting.

Of course they could have simply showered together, but given the moment between them Giles had interrupted, that would have been a really bad idea.

"It's... um, quite alright, girls," Giles mumbled from the kitchen, not looking at them. To no avail, he hoped that he hadn't interrupted anything too... private between the couple. He couldn't be sure, and honestly, he didn't want to know.

Neither did he want to know, what had happened at the Summers home earlier. Because ever since she had arrived here about twenty minutes ago, Buffy kept sending him rather odd glances, every time she thought he wasn't looking.

He was unaware of the fact that Buffy had made an 'interesting' discovery just seconds before he called her over to this meeting.

After dinner and not going on patrol tonight, Joyce and Buffy had spent time with something Willow and Faith had been doing quite a lot in the past weeks. Looking at college brochures. Decisions about further education would soon have to be made, and Joyce tried to help and support her daughter in the best possible way.

Buffy's mind had been on anything else but colleges, and Joyce knew the reasons for this. Because Buffy had told her about how Angel had canceled their date. Seeing the hurt expression in her only child's eyes, she had felt sorry, knowing she had most likely caused it.

But she hadn't done this for no reason, hadn't told Angel for no reason that his relationship to her daughter was alarming her. That she hoped he could see that she was still a young woman, who was just starting life and deserved to live it to the fullest. Something she couldn't do with a century-old, not-aging vampire by her side, even if she tried.

She knew he cared for Buffy as much as this one cared for him. She just hoped he cared enough to make the right decisions – hard decisions that she knew Buffy couldn't make, because her feeling for the vampire were simply too strong.

The canceled date had shown her that Angel must have understood her pleas. She hadn't dared to ask Buffy what exactly this event meant for her relationship to the older man, afraid Buffy would find out about her involvement, but somewhat relieved that the first step had been made.

She wasn't necessarily trying get Buffy out of Sunnydale, though this thought had played a role in her confronting Angel. She would already be happy, if Buffy was able to lead a relationship with a regular, decent man. Someone she could grow old with, if things worked out.

Still she had been trying to arouse Buffy's interest in other colleges, some in the middle and southern California region, others a little further apart. Though depressed and distracted, Buffy had looked at the brochures assembled on the table, from time to time getting a little more interested in one of them. At some point she had remembered that a couple more prospects were buried in the depths of a desk drawer in her bedroom and she had asked Buffy to go and get them.

Inspecting the brochure Buffy had studied most intently in the past minutes, she had totally forgotten about something else her daughter might find up there.

It had taken Buffy only a few seconds to find the brochures... and the something else Joyce hid up there. It was a keepsake of a very special night in her life and was enough to still distract Buffy, who was now sitting on Giles's living room couch, from any thoughts about Angel or even college.

The something she had gotten her hands on was a folded poster of some old band, whose name was more than unfamiliar to her. But that alone wouldn't have been anything to worry about. The interesting thing, however, could be found on the back. In a handwriting that looked like her mother's, but somehow seemed younger, it had written on it '_Joyce + Ripper = 4ever_', with a multitude of hearts drawn around this proof of love for good measure.

Buffy had immediately known when this little thing must have come into existence – the repressed memory of finding her teenage mother in a freaking awesome coat smooching a not-clad-in-Tweet-Giles-aka.-Ripper in the middle of the street had come back to her within seconds.

She couldn't tell why Joyce had kept this piece of paper, didn't know if it meant anything, if maybe there had been more than just kissing between the two of them. Maybe if there was still.

She would never dare to ask either one of them about it... even though part of her wanted to know... but just knowing about what had been and maybe still was, had her mind on overdrive. Thus she couldn't help the suspicious looks that kept escaping her eyes from time to time.

Walking around the couch and sitting down next to her best friend, Willow mistook Buffy's look, figuring only the situation with Angel could lead to a troubled expression like this one. Touching her knee lightly, she sent her best friend a 'you-okay?'-look. When Buffy had left last night, things hadn't looked as gloomy anymore. She already feared that something else between her and the vampire had happened in the meantime.

But then Buffy faced her and with a small, reassuring smile showed her that concerning Angel everything was okay, or unchanged to last night, rather. Willow was almost relieved; just almost, since the hard-to-grasp expression she had seen on the blonde's face seconds before had now returned. She couldn't know about the _new old _reasons for Buffy's current behavior, but she knew something that might cheer her up. Leaning in, she whispered in her ear, "Look, sleepyhead's here too".

That indeed brought a bigger smile to Buffy's face, one that would hopefully linger there longer than the previous one.

She shoved Willow lightly, before sending Faith a wave and a barely suppressed smirk.

The brunette thought nothing of it, as she greeted back and sat down the armrest of Xander's easy chair. Looking down at him, she noticed that he was unusually quiet; quiet but thousands of miles away from unhappy or anything similar. If the something he had done yesterday, the something he hadn't been willing to let anyone in on, had something to do with that?

"So... now that we are all finally here...," Wesley, who had hardly been noticed by the new arrivals, began, his voice showing some disapproval, "we can start discussing the matter at hand".

"Um, yes," Giles concurred, emerging from the kitchen with a tray, which held a tea pot and several cups, putting it down on the coffee table before pulling up a chair for himself.

"Are you sure they're stolen? I mean, maybe you put them somewhere else after you researched in them the last time and... forgot about it...?" Willow asked, semi-hopeful.

However, Giles crushed her hopes. With a sad smile at Willow for her effort, he denied, "Unfortunately I am sure. I always kept them in the book cabinet in my office, checking every day to see if they were still there. But when I did this afternoon, they were gone," he stopped. You could see that he blamed himself for the books' disappearing.

"Did they take anything else?" Buffy leaned forth, for the moment forgetting about her discovery about Joyce and 'Ripper'.

"I checked my collection immediate after I found out," the older watcher replied, "it seems they haven't stolen any of the other books." Readjusting his glasses on his nose, he helped himself to a cup of tea and was soon followed by Wesley. Tea - something to calm their nerves. Tonight it really was needed.

None of them felt relief at his words. Giles' reference collection being intact was only small comfort, when five volumes of much greater importance for their current situation were missing. At least they still had the notes Giles and Wesley had taken while reading through them. All three copies, one Giles kept in the library, one he kept at home and Wesley's copy were still in their possession. Either the robber had no interest in them or didn't know about their existence.

"Do you know yet who's behind this?" Faith finally asked, "The sooner we get them back, the less time they.. whoever... got to to read them, right?"

There was a moment of hesitation, the watchers looking at each other, before Wesley answered, "We have an idea who might have stolen the books, and that's the problem".

Buffy gave them a 'come-again?'-look, urging them to continue their explanation.

"After discussing who had knowledge of the books and also knew where they were located... Wesley and I have come to a conclusion," he pulled off his glasses, unwilling to state the name of their suspect.

The Scoobies thought about it themselves, all eventually coming up with the same name. "So... we're all thinking Mr. Finch then...," Xander was the one who finally said the name out loud, looking equally incredulous as his friends.

"We can't be completely sure," Giles quickly amended, "but right now he seems to be the most likely candidate".

Silence overcame the meeting's participants as the possible consequences of Finch's betrayal dawned on them. But was it betrayal in the strictest sense of the word? Buffy spoke up, "But... Mr. Finch... Allan... I mean, do you really think he'd take a risk in contacting us and asking for help, if his ultimate plan was to work against us. He didn't look like he was playing, when we met him that first time in the alley," she voiced her doubts, also looking at the girls who had been there with her, checking if they agreed.

Willow and Faith nodded in their turn, the latter one fighting off bad memories of an almost accidental staking which were irrevocably linked to this event.

"True," Giles confirmed, having met the man several times now and never having gotten a malicious vibe from him, "which is why I fear that the Mayor is involved in this".

"Like he found out Mr. Finch is working against him and forced him to bring him the books?" Willow asked, part of her also fearing for Allan. She had no idea how Mayor Wilkins usually handled traitors, but a man, who planned to destroy the world by turning himself into _the living embodiment of an immortal_ – whatever that meant exactly, it was one of the important details they were still missing – surely wouldn't take lightly to one of his closest associates trying to stop him so soon before he reached his goal.

"Not only that," Wesley painted an even darker picture, "the Mayor may have also forced him to give him all the information about us plus what we have found out thus far".

"Fun," Faith and Xander concluded unintentionally at the same time, and under normal circumstances this might have earned them a giggle or two from the others. But right now nobody was in laughing mood.

* * *

Soon after, all of them made their way home; it was a school night after all, and the students among them needed at least a few hours of sleep. Before closing the meeting, however, they had discussed how they should proceed now after these events. Since Finch_ was_ their most likely and, honestly, only subject, they had agreed on no further meetings with him until they were sure what was really going on.

If the situation really was as it presented itself right now, they were at a strong disadvantage. With the books now possibly in the Mayor's possession, he might have everything he needed for his Ascension. They didn't know. But they knew they needed to regain their advantage somehow, or at least get on even grounds with the Mayor.

The watchers had informed the kids that until they came up with a new plan or anything else regarding the books or the Ascension happened, they all should go on as usual. Planning any attacks on the Mayor now would be too risky.

The Scoobies had followed their order, following their normal school routine the next day. Willow had run into Oz and had brought him up to date, Cordelia joining them at some point.

One person far from being up to date about what was going on was Xander's... well, Anya. He knew that 'girlfriend' was probably not the correct term for her yet, but Saturday night they had taken some further steps towards relationship...

Oh, they hadn't done the something he had done only once in his life and only with Faith!

No, they hadn't done that. Not even remotely. They had gone on a simple date in a drive-in theater in San Luis Obispo … what better place to go when you were currently still, or maybe again, in the possession of your uncle's convertible...

They had seen an old black and white movie that Anya had sworn she had watched the first time when it had come out in the 1940s. Not failing to also inform Xander what she had been up to back them in general.

Fearing the ex-demon's stories would kill the mood entirely, if he just let her talk on, Xander had shut her up in the one way he could think of in this situation. Romantic movie, halfway romantic setting and a girl he had growing feelings for.

It had been a simple kiss, but had worked.

Afterwards he hadn't heard one single story about evisceration, flagellation or other torture-related happenings in her life. Too busy she had been looking at him enamored and following his kiss with several herself.

Today they had continued with glances and some kisses here and there, careful that nobody, certainly not his friends, saw those.

Too soon.

They wouldn't be ready to accept the ex-demon among their group, though in retrospect her accidental bringing Willow's vampire self here hadn't been all that bad. _I mean, the clothes alone. Really brought out... Whoa, stop it, not going there again. Bad place. Bad, bad best-friend-place... technically. _

His hormones were working on overdrive right now anyway. No need to fuel them on even more with forbidden thoughts about Willow.

One person with less forbidden, but equally hormone-driven thoughts about Willow was Faith, the only Scoobie not present at school today. Giles had made it her decision, if she wanted to come and help him or if she wanted to stay at home. She had opted for the latter. On mondays, there was never much to do in the library and they doubted that today would turn up anything new regarding the Books of Ascension. Thus, she hadn't been needed today and had had the day at her free disposal.

Part of the day had been spent with cleaning the house and shopping for food, since their fridge still hadn't gotten any fuller since Saturday. She had also studied for a few hours, and was just finishing now, surprised that it was already past eight p.m.

She wasn't surprised because Willow wasn't home yet; she knew her girlfriend was tutoring Percy today and would be here sometime soon; but surprised that her head hadn't started hurting yet.

Still she decided it was enough studying for today. Going to the kitchen, she grabbed a quick snack from the now filled fridge, knowing that her redhead wanted to pick up a small dinner for herself on the way home. Hopefully Will would be here soon, because, actually, she hungered for something else, anyway. After coming home yesterday, they hadn't continued what they had started earlier, had gone straight to bed.

She had performed all her seductive bean bag action for nothing. And it had been Giles' fault!

But now, not two minutes later, the front door opened and Willow entered, finding Faith in the living room. "Hey, sweetie," she smiled, putting a Styrofoam-form with two cups in it and a paper bag on the coffee table.

Faith moved in with a grin, her arm going around Willow's waist, and gave her a loving kiss. "You know, actually, I was gonna put on a nice, flowery apron, greet you with a 'Hi, honey, how was your day?', presenting you a plate with the meal I cooked for you and letting you inspect the cleanness of the house...," she started, taking a deep breath; that sentence had turned out longer as planned. "But, one, I couldn't find an apron, two, I didn't spend a whole lot time cleaning up...," though she knew that Willow would still see a little difference, "and three, I haven't cooked anything, because you already ate," she finished her joke, before getting more serious, "You did eat something, right?"

Willow quickly nodded at her caring (not)-housewife, "Sure did". Faith had a rule saying that no girlfriend of hers was gonna go to bed without dinner. Well, sometimes said dinner consisted of a bag of tortilla chips, but it was something, at least.

"Good," Faith smirked and gave her a couple more kisses. "Still makes me want to ask what you got there," she released Willow and went to take a peek.

"Two steamy cups of hot chocolate and some cookies. Thought maybe my 'wifey' craved something sweet after her hard day's work," Willow replied, playing along with Faith's role.

"Mmm, cookies, maybe for breakfast tomorrow. But chocolate sounds pretty cool," Faith decided, picking up both cups, handing one over to Willow, before taking her hand and leading her towards their bedroom.

The redhead wasn't surprised about this; not by the still or maybe again drawn curtains, not by the freshly made bed with the covers already folded back. She knew they had to make up for yesterday's interrupted acts of nakedness and she wasn't gonna say 'no' to this.

But tonight she was taking it a bit slower, it seemed. Sitting on the bed, both enjoying their drinks in silence, it was a few minutes, before Faith asked her again, "So, really, how was your day?"

"Oh, you know, pretty normal, actually. I ran into Cordy and Oz, told them about the missing books, tutored Percy in the library. He asked about you again, by the way," she smirked a non-jealous smirk, eliciting a short laugh from Faith.

"Hm, he doesn't seem that impressed by my faux-relationship with Xan, huh? Maybe he and I should try a little harder. Public display of affection and all that. Some cuddles, some kisses... Think that'd work?" she joked.

"Don't you dare!" Willow answered, at this really a bit jealous, though she knew that Faith wasn't serious.

"No, we won't. Honor," the slayer replied, taking Will's now emptied cup and placing it next to hers on the bedside table. "But I actually wanted to know how that test went, you know. The one I didn't let you study for," she faced the redhead more fully, her index finger landing on this one's thigh, moving up and down slowly. "Flunked?"

"Hm, I don't think so," Willow stated truthfully. She had never flunked a test, not even remotely... well, except a few in p.e. And Faith's distractions had hardly caused any problems. But that she had known last night already.

"Oh," Faith's bottom lip protruded playfully. "Guess that means no spanking for me".

Willow laughed, quickly moving onto Faith's lap, straddling her. "Who says that?" she asked, thumb and index finger wandering to the brunette's butt, pinching it not too gently, her mouth nearing Faith, stopping shortly before making contact. "Maybe if you behave... or don't...," she grinned.

Faith grinned back, nose to nose with the redhead, before she lay back on the bed, pinning the little one to her with her arms. "Does sound good," she agreed, leaning up for a long kiss on Willow-y lips. Soon tongues came into play, tasting hot chocolate, Faith also tasting the remains of Willow's yummy turkey sandwich.

Turning them around, her fingers neared the buttons of the blouse the redhead was conveniently wearing tonight. "So, behaving would mean unbuttoning this thing slowly, one button after the other... And misbehaving... simply ripping them off with one move? Or the other way around?"

"I won't tell ya. Wouldn't be any fun, baby," Willow wiggled her eyebrows expectantly.

"Alright, then," Faith nodded, her hand hovering dangerously above the buttons, having Willow think she might really rip them off. But then she started unbuttoning them instead. Carefully, one by one, finally revealing Willow's white lace bra. "You just start the spanking any time you want," she informed the redhead, before kissing a trail down her girlfriend's torso, getting rid of Willow's pants at the same time.

But Willow wasn't thinking about spanking. She was thinking about something else. Something that had crossed her mind several times in the last weeks, something she wanted to try, but something that also scared her. A little. More.

And when a spanking-expectant Faith moved back up, positioning herself in between her legs, Willow took heart. "Faith?" she started timidly, not getting Faith's full attention yet, since this one was busying herself with exploring her breasts right now. "Faith, baby?" she tried again. "Can we... Can we try something different tonight?"

"You mean something besides possible spanking?" Faith grinned, now looking into her girlfriend's eyes, her hand working some more on the puppies.

"Yeah," she took a calming breath before continuing... or trying to continue with what she wanted to say. "Can we... I mean... you have other things than just weapons in your... well, weapons drawer... right? Do you think we could..."

She didn't continue there. She was blushing enough already as it was, and knew it would only become worse with every word.

Faith paused, looking down at the blushing face, which still held those big eyes full of desire. Even though some fear was visible in them as well. Until now, Faith had never talked to Willow about her little 'toy collection', not wanting to scare her girlfriend and push her into something she didn't want. "Really?" she cupped Willow's cheek gently. She had to be sure.

Looking back up into the soft brown eyes, she nodded in return. "Yeah". Yeah, she was ready.

"Okay," Faith replied softly, pressing her forehead against Willow's before kissing her one last time, "You... just relax, okay, I'll be right back".

As Faith disappeared into her room, she tried to do as the brunette had told her. Relax. It wasn't easy. With every second more that Faith spent in her room, looking through the assortment of things... whose names Willow wasn't able to say out loud, she became more nervous. She wanted this, but since she didn't really know what to expect, how it would feel, if she'd even like it, she had a hard time putting her mind at ease.

She didn't know that Faith's level of nervousness was equally intense to say the least. Faith knew what to expect, but that didn't make it any easier. Especially since she couldn't decide on which toy to take with her. She wanted to make this a good second first time for Willow, but how to know, which toy her Red would like best.

Shaking her head, she grabbed them all, hurrying back to their bedroom, before her mind had a chance to think about this any more.

_

* * *

_

"What the hell is going on there? That is... so not right," the voice of a little blonde complained, "I mean, my mother and my watcher..."

Clearly someone still hadn't coped with stumbling across her mother's love doodle. And her worry about it she had to share with Angel of all people. They had met by accident; Buffy about to go on a quick patrol, Angel looking for blood. Uh, not like you think. Pig's blood, from the butcher's about a mile from the playground his and Buffy's paths had met.

She had spotted him first, nearing him with an openly happy face, the canceled date almost forgotten, it seemed. He had engaged in a conversation about how he's been and what she had been up to, even though his mind was telling him over and over to put an end to this conversation and walk on over to his original destination. Not because he was hungry, which he was, but because he still wasn't sure how to behave around Buffy after Joyce's visit.

He doubted Joyce would mind talking to Buffy, but everything else that went into a more relationshippy direction probably a no go.

Of course it wasn't helping him any that Buffy kept talking about her mother, thus constantly reminding him of the older blonde's visit at his mansion.

"Can I make Ethan pay for this?" Buffy continued her rant, having picked out the man responsible for the kissing-'disaster she had witnessed between Giles and her mother. "Without him, that never would have happened, right?" she looked at Angel expectantly, apparently wanting him to say something to this. But just when he was about to open his mouth, she went on, "Or would it have happened anyway?" she scrunched her eyebrows.

"I mean... they're too old for... that. Or..."

"You know, Buffy, maybe this isn't such a good idea," he commented on their conversation, which was more than unilateral. He didn't feel comfortable with Buffy's talking about a relationship that to her was equally as a red rag as his relationship to Buffy was for Joyce. "I need to be on my way. I'll see you, okay?" he didn't even try to smile as he turned around and walked away, leaving Buffy alone at the playground that had witnessed most of Buffy's rant.

"Oh, I didn't mean old as in... old," she mistook Angel's mood, thinking she had offended him; after all, he was about 243 years old. "Angel... I didn't mean that. Please..." She knew that her problem with Joyce and Giles wasn't really the age factor, though she couldn't pin down the real reason. It just felt wrong somehow. "Angel...?"

Angel wasn't listening anymore. Didn't want to. And it was probably letting Buffy believe that he had taken off because of her age rant.

Buffy pouted, plopping down in one of the swings. With the bright red jacket she was wearing over gray sweat pants and her hair braided, the little blonde almost looked like a girl being out late playing. A perfect target for any vampire lurking about.

But there weren't any nearby tonight, except the 243-year-old one who had taken off, not feeling the sad eyes watching his back.

Eyes were also watching Buffy's back in their turn. Eyes less sad. They belonged to two blue-greyish demons; big guys, endowed with tails, something quite unusual in the modern demon. In exchange, they lacked something all of them possessed usually. A mouth.

_to be continued..._

_

* * *

_**A/N#2: **Heh, long chapter. I apologize for the last scene, didn't quite turn out as satistying as planned, but it was actually only a setup for the following chapters. Everyone who can tell me where he's seen these demons described in the last scene before gets a cookie :P

And I promise you, before the year ends, the gang will have found out about Willow and Faith ;)


	53. Smiles all around?

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. Parts of the story line and dialogue taken from the episode "Earshot". No copyright infringement intended!  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

* * *

CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE --- SMILES ALL AROUND?

Moans grew louder, as Willow's hand gripped Faith's sweat-covered body, letting her girlfriend work her magic. Pretty intense magic. With every thrust of the gadget Faith handled so expertly, the brunette drove her closer to the edge.

It wasn't long now; she could feel it in her bones, and even more in the body parts directly involved in what was going on here.

Willow pulled her slayer closer to her, clinging to her tightly, as Faith buried her face in the nape of her neck, quickly finding her earlobe and tugging on it with her teeth. That little move always fuelled the redhead on even more.

Arching her back mere seconds later, eyes snapping shut, the wicca got ready to announce what they both knew anyway. "Oh, God, Faith... I'm... I'm..."

"What are _you_ thinking about?" Buffy interrupted Willow's daydreaming rather harshly. The big smile, bordering on a grin on the redhead's face confusing her a little. Had been for some time now.

Understandably.

Since she was just telling her about last night's patrol, about her brief meeting with Angel, was informing her about this one's quick departure, but leaving out the reason for this – well, what she thought the reason was – but most importantly she was telling her about the demons she had met.

And of course Willow had been listening at first. But today she had a hard time concentrating, the events of last night repeating themselves in her head over and over. There wasn't anything she could do about it – it just happened... repeatetly.

Earlier today, getting out of bed had been difficult for her as well. Faith had been particularly clingy tonight, having somehow managed to wrap her entire body around Willow in one way or another, trapping the little redhead completely. But eventually Willow had been able to fight her way out, surprisingly without waking Faith.

Grinning broadly, Faith had simply turned around and had kept on sleeping. She probably still was doing that now, dreaming about last night.

Maybe about the striptease she had cooked up for her girlfriend – something she always loved to do, loving Willow's eyes on her; but in this case she had also done it to calm her nerves, still afraid that Willow wouldn't like what they were about to do. Maybe about ridding Willow of her own clothes – something she loved even more than stripping herself. Maybe about the long, oh-so-gentle foreplay that had simply flown into _the_ event itself... which they had mastered much more smoothly than expected.

Though at first Willow had had difficulties choosing from the abundance of little helpers Faith had brought back from her room. She had eventually picked a medium-sized one, not letting herself be led by the form of the device, but rather by its color. Red that became darker gradually and finally turned into black. A pretty little thing, as she had thought, and Faith had agreed, happy she had made Willow decide.

Various happy moments later, they had fallen asleep, ending up the position Willow had found herself waking up in two hours ago. Of course she would have loved to stay in bed with her slayer, wait till she woke up and repeat last night's events right away again... but she had classes to go to.

Helping herself to a cookie breakfast, she had arranged the remaining ones in such a way that they formed a little smiley face. Two eyes, a nose, a mouth. She had planned for a heart, but somehow that hadn't really worked out.

Then she had made her way to school, trying to stop herself from being all smiley face herself, but barely managing to do so. When she had first run into Buffy just outside the school gate, the blonde hadn't commented on her expression, having other things on her mind. But after five minutes of leading a one-sided conversation and witnessing the never-ending smile, she simply had to ask what was going on in Willow's mind.

"Oh, nothing," Willow now replied, putting on a more neutral expression... she hoped. "So scabby demon got away?" she forced her mind to go back to the conversation they were actually leading here.

Buffy paused for a moment at Willow's reply. Nobody grinned like that for no reason. Oh, well, maybe sometime soon she'd find out what was going on there.

But for now she let Willow have her amusement or joy or... whatever it was... to herself. "Scabby demon number _two_ got away," she went on, correcting her best friend, showing that a distracted Willow hadn't been listening _that _well when she had explained about the number of demons 'visiting' her last night. "Scabby demon number one, big check in the slay column."

They stopped in front of the library doors. Today was one of those days she had actually something interesting to report, something other than just your run-of-the-mill vampire. Maybe Giles would know what kind of demons she had fought. She hoped he knew, because ever since last night her hand was itching, and she was sure the demons had anything to do with it.

"I don't like this whole no mouth thing. It's disquieting," Willow remarked, this little detail _not_ having gone unheard by her.

"Well, no mouth means no teeth," Buffy shrugged, before... "Unless they have them somewhere else..." A disturbing thought; a mouth adorned with demon-y fangs biting down on your neck or your whatever was bad enough; fangs hidden in other demon body parts biting you...? Even worse.

Willow smirked at her friend's funny expression. "I doubt it," she calmed her with a hand on the blonde's arm. "I'll see you in the quad later?"

Buffy nodded, waving into the redhead's direction before entering the library, letting Willow wander off to daydream about her recent, exciting bedroom-y moments with Faith some more.

* * *

As agreed, they all met in the quad two hours later. 'They all' today consisted of Willow, Xander, Buffy and Oz. And not for the first time today, Willow was glad that Faith wasn't here with them. Not that she didn't want to have her here – pretty much the contrary, actually.

But with her present, she feared the grinny smile she had finally gotten rid of during her second class would return immediately, and a thousand times stronger, all in effort to match Faith's own grin that she knew would be there.

This would only lead to questions from Xander, and new questions from Buffy, whom she earlier had fobbed off with a 'nothing'.

Oz wouldn't ask. He'd just look at them and know.

And she'd feel bad about it. Of course he knew about her and Faith as a couple. Probably could imagine that they were sleeping with one another, though she had never told him about it, wouldn't dream of doing so. But she didn't want to rub his nose in it.

Thus it was good that Faith wasn't here.

Plus, that meant she couldn't distract Percy, who, along with his basketball teammates, was now participating in a cheerleader rally in celebration of the game they would hopefully win tonight.

This year was a big one for the Razorbacks – they had finally made the it to the championship, which had everyone pretty excited. So, naturally the team's games had become must-see events within the last weeks.

The entire gang wanted to go, but not all of them could. This was one of the days Buffy hated being a slayer. Even though she wasn't as into basketball as strangely even her redheaded best friend seemed to be currently, watching a game would still be more preferable than going on patrol. Tonight, however, patrolling was necessary. New demons in town always were a reason for high alert.

The only consolation for her – Faith would have to go with her, so at least she had some company while everyone else was enjoying the game. Of course, the brunette didn't know about that yet, but between high school sports and patrolling, picking the latter one probably wasn't all that hard for her.

Oz, Willow and Buffy sat on one of the benches in the quad, Xander standing behind them, as the majority of them watched as the cheerleaders, led by Cordelia, successfully spelled the name "H-O-G-A-N", having the key player enter the stage set up in the middle of the quad, greeting the audience, "it's Hogan! Go-o Hogan!"

Thoroughly _not_ impressed, Buffy let out a "Is it me or is this really lame?" A tiny bit of bored puzzlement resonated in her voice, thinking about how it would have been, had she actually made the cheerleader squad two years ago. Looking at it now, cheerleading didn't seem this terribly exciting after all.

"I don't know," Oz countered, "I usually enjoy lameness, and this is leaving me kinda cold".

Willow didn't have her eyes on the players or cheerleaders on stage. She rather focussed on the school newspaper in her hands; at least a way to hide a grin, if a sexy thought about Faith dared to sneak into her mind again. "Well, according to Freddy's latest editorial, 'the pep rally is a place for pseudo-prostitutes to provoke men into a sexual frenzy, which, when thwarted, results in pointless athletic competition.'"

"And the downside being?" Xander, asked, only having understood half of what Willow had been reading out. He was too busy checking out the 'pseudo-prostitutes' on stage. But from the tone of her voice, Willow seemed a little exasperated.

"The school paper is edging on depressing lately. You guys notice that?" she replied, confirming his assumptions about exasperation.

"I don't know," Oz answered, waiving a small Razorback pennant lazily. Willow was the only Scooby reading through the Sunnydale High Sentinel on a regular basis; she'd be the only one noticing any changes. The only page he read... "I always go straight to the obits"... was one not usually found in newspapers schools published. But, after all, Sunnydale High was just a little different.

Folding the paper and discarding it, Willow looked over at her best friend to see if she had anything to say to this. This one just distractedly ran a hand over her hair, making Willow wonder, "What are you doing Buffy?"

"Nothing," the blonde replied too quickly, smiling briefly, before her face formed a gloomy pout and she got up from the bench, murmuring, "Checking for horns".

Willow immediately sprang up to follow her, knowing what this all was about. Buffy had told her about what they had found in Giles' books about the scabby, mouthless demons that Buffy had encountered. A vague conclusion stating the possibility of getting infected with an aspect of the demon upon getting in contact with its blood.

And Buffy was sure she had gotten in contact with its, well, blood. She was pretty sure the gooey, white material on her knife fell into that category. And though the itching on her hand had lessened now, she knew the blood must have caused it. Giles' joke about a new fabric softener possibly causing irritation hadn't helped putting her mind at ease.

"Ah, you know," Willow started; she didn't know if she could help her friend any, but she was trying anyway, "I don't even think Giles is right about you becoming like a demon. I mean, he's totally burnt. You know, dealing with Finch and the Books of Ascension... Maybe he misread the text," she nodded with an encouraging smile.

But Buffy didn't let herself be lightened up by Willow's though. True, the text had been in Latin, she had seen it herself, but she doubted Giles would suddenly lose his Latin skills over the stolen books. "What if he is right?" she shook her head. "I'm suddenly going to grow this demon part and we don't even know what it is. It could be claws or scales... or..."

Suddenly Willow's expression turned into one of shock, and immediately Buffy reached behind her, feeling the back of her neck in panic, fearing Willow had discovered something. "What?"

Her reply, dead-serious"Was it a boy demon?"

* * *

So, now, thanks to her _best_ friend, Buffy had had one more thing to worry about. Was there a possibility she'd be growing _male_ demon parts?

Sure, like many girls, Buffy as well imagined from time to time, what it would be like to be a guy for a day or two... but did it have to be a _demon_ guy?!

Willow's vain attempt of making her believe that her boy demon thought had been nothing more than a joke hadn't worked. She had been worried witless for the rest of the day and the night to come.

She hadn't told her mom about it, but her recently housewife-y fellow slayer Faith, though this one, not to her surprise, had already heard the story from Willow. Feeling Buffy's worries and knowing there was hardly a way to put her mind at ease – they just had to wait and see – she had at least tried her best to distract the blonde slayer for a while.

Had talked to her about tonight's game, getting to the point of joking about all the little school girls going only to gush over the tall guys in their way too big basketball shorts. Openly wondering if Buffy would have done that too, even though she had tall, dark and broody waiting for her right around the corner.

Scrunching her eyebrows, Buffy had been a little confused at the brunette's statement, but Faith had simply pointed to a certain vampire, standing near a tree about fifty feet from them.

Willow had informed her girlfriend about Buffy's last meeting with the vampire... well, had passed on the few bits and pieces that had actually made it into her ears and therefore into her brain. 'Stupid daydreams'... Willow had grinningly confessed earlier, Faith immediately knowing what those must have been about.

But Faith had heard about it, about Angel acting weird again and about Buffy believing that it was her fault this time. Nonetheless, the blonde had made her way over to him, hoping her foot wouldn't end up in her mouth today.

For a few moments, Faith had observed the scene in front of her, which had evolved much less awkward than anticipated. There hadn't seemed to be any hard feelings on Angel's part and Buffy had visibly relaxed. Faith had continued her walk eventually, giving the two of them some privacy and keeping an eye out for any demons that fit Buffy's description – tail and no mouth all the info she had needed.

The older slayer and Angel hadn't really noticed Faith wandering off, caught up in their conversation. Angel had apologized to Buffy for his last night's behavior, making up an excuse about bad blood that had upset his stomach.

Buffy had asked if something like that happens a lot and had him reply with a 'You'd be surprised'. Which hadn't even been a lie. Sometimes the wrong blood type was enough make him sick for hours. Maybe he was 'allergic' to certain antibodies, he didn't really know.

But he had been happy Buffy had bought his explanation. He still wanted to spend time with her, though he'd keep her at arm's length, if she tried to make any advances. He knew they couldn't be a couple much longer, but he didn't really want to be the one breaking up with her.

Maybe, if he continued to keep his distance to her, she'd eventually put an end to their relationship. It'd be the preferred solution for him. Of course, it'd still mean heartbrokenness on both sides once it happened, but he knew that all in all she'd suffer less that way – and that counted for him.

For himself, he decided to take on the role of a friend rather than a boyfriend from now on. And as a friend, he'd still listen to her problems.

And he had listened to her demon problem, to her fear about growing any demon-y parts. Angel had heard about these demons before, but hadn't been able to help her any further, the real impact a physical contact with this species unknown to him. Still he had encouraged her a bit by telling her that demons like to brag about their powers, often claiming things that weren't true, just to intimidate their enemies.

This had relaxed Buffy somewhat; and waking up today, checking her body over and over, she had started to believe him. No bumpies, no claws, no tail visible. Definitely no _male _demon parts! Giles hadn't mentioned an incubation time, and thus she had been positive mutations would fail to appear.

Was still now. Although she still checked herself over in every mirror she saw on her way. Just having done so in the girls' restroom, she made her way over to the students' lounge, where she saw her friends sitting on the couches, talking, obviously having fun.

But when she approached them, they suddenly stopped, silence creeping in. She knew what this must be about. "Hmmm... quietness. We either lost, or we won and you don't want me to feel bad," she joked, sitting down, feeling considerably more at ease now that there seemed to be no aftereffects. Definitely more of a win for her than victorious Razorbacks.

"Well, yeah, it wasn't a really good game," Willow replied, feigning slight boredom. Of course, Buffy didn't know that she had hardly been able to talk about anything _but_ the game since last night. Reporting even the smallest details to Faith, who again wasn't present at school today. Not yet anyway.

Xander agreed with Willow. "Yeah, tall hoops, but then tall guys. What's the point?" he smiled.

"Pretty dull," Oz concluded, perfectly playing along with them and their game of pretending. The game had been awesome with the Razorbacks winning with a freaking 114 to 111 at the last second. Simply a sensational game for Sunnydale High. But Buffy had been right – by playing it down, they tried to make her feel better about not having been there. And maybe she'd be able to watch the next game with them.

Of course they hadn't reckoned on Cordelia unintentionally boycotting their little plan.

"Are you guys crazy?" she screeched incredulous, approaching them from where she stood at a nearby table. "That was an incredible game! I've never cheered so hard in my life! I still have knee marks on my back," she smiled her brightest smile in a long time.

The gang eyed her collectively, asking themselves how that was possible. The anatomical wonder that was Cordelia Chase...?

From the pyramid," she supplied annoyed when she saw their confused looks and took off.

Understanding nods all around, Willow turned her attention towards Buffy. "Yeah, well, I still bet patrolling was way better cause, wow, important," she tried, not sounding entirely convincing. Faith had already told her that it had been kinda fruitless. The only positive event being Buffy re-bonding with Angel.

"Well," Buffy thought back. There was hardly anything _important _to tell, except maybe, "Oh, did Faith tell you about the four-legged demon?" Willow shook her head, no. "Turned out to be a dog," she smiled sheepishly and shrugged. Not their fault. It had been dark, the part barely illuminated.

"A weredog?" Oz inquired, showing real interest.

"Regular". Besides being the most colorful and unusual mongrel they'd ever seen, that is.

"Tough luck," Xander replied, but his mind wasn't really on the conversation. He kept throwing glances at Cordy, who was standing behind him now, chatting with some friends. _I wonder if she and Wesley have kissed. _

It was bothering him. Not just since yesterday, when he had seen Wesley checking out Cordelia during the rally. Though he and the brunette weren't dating anymore and he was hooking up with Anya, there still was some jealousy in him. Maybe it would be there forever.

And it wasn't just Cordelia. Everyone knew that his jealousy towards Angel hadn't faded in the least. He was still dating the girl that he'd never be able to get. And Willow? He had been okay with Oz; but any new guy in her life might arouse similar feeling in him.

The only girl who was different when it came to that was Faith. His buddy Faith. With her, he didn't feel any jealousy. He didn't think about her and other guys. But thoughts about him and her and their night together – as blurred as his memories might be – still invaded his brain from time to time.

Of course Buffy didn't know that. "It really bugs you, huh?" She could only refer to what he had told her.

"What?" the boy replied, not sure what his friend meant.

"Cordelia and Wesley, smooching," Buffy clarified, not thinking any more about her answer, until...

"Man, you read my mind," he answered surprised.

She was confused for a second, wondering why he would reply something like that when he had obviously expressed his suspicion out loud. But then it hit her. Slowly but surely her mind started picking up on tiny bits and chunks of thoughts from people nearby. Thoughts about cheers, the game, school.

Nothing interesting, but the fact that she could really read minds, made her raise her eyebrows, uttering a simple, quiet "Huh".

_to be continued..._


	54. The one where Buffy finds out

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. Parts of the story line and dialogue taken from the episode "Earshot". No copyright infringement intended!  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

* * *

CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR --- THE ONE WHERE BUFFY FINDS OUT

_God... I 'd love to shove her against that locker right now and just... ooph..._

_Keep on walking, Buffy, just keep on walking... _the tiny blonde told herself, interrupting the little show she had just given a curly-haired admirer a few feet from her and moving away, looking straight ahead.

As 'flattering' as the guy's thought would be to some, she only found it disturbing. The beginning had been okay. Who wouldn't like being called 'beautiful'? But he should have stopped there.

Of course, he had no idea Buffy could hear everything he and everyone else around her thought. Some amusing foreign thoughts had entered her mind already ever since she had excused herself to her friends two minutes ago to go and see Giles. But, along with Mr. Beech's obvious aversion to students, this guy's thought had been troublesome. And she tried hard to get it out of her brain again.

'Luckily' another guy just then crossed her path, almost outshining the previous naughty thought she had heard. It wasn't more than a _Hey, guys, _but seeing that his leering look that was aimed at her chest, she had no other chance than to take off running.

The sooner she reached the library, the better. And after that, she'd stop at her locker to pull a sweater over her for hormone-driven high school boys apparently too revealing top.

Rounding the next corner, a faintly familiar song entered her head, an off-key thought voice sang _They do the sand dance don't you know... If they move too quick, oh whey oh... hmhmm... uh... Summers!_

"Summers!" both a thought voice and a real one yelled at her and she looked up to see Principal Snyder walking by. "How often do I have to say it? No running in the hall!"

She slowed a bit, but didn't come to a full stop. The library was close, only twelve feet away. Snyder must have foreseen her destination, _How did I know she was headed to that librarian? _he shook his head and continued his walk.

Already hearing his thought-complains about the next student he met, she sent his back an annoyed look, turned and entered the library. _Finally..._

She walked in further, getting ready to tell Giles about her new ability.

But apparently Giles had to tell her something as well... Or make that Giles' mind, rather. About to shelf some books, he turned his head to look at the new arrival.

She wouldn't have even noticed his eyes moving up and down her body, scrutinizing her, if it hadn't been for... _Look at her shoes. If a fashion magazine told her to, she'd wear cats strapped to her feet..._

Briefly grinning at his own thought, unnoticed by her – that's what he thought – he faced her more fully, directing a "Hello Buffy" at her. "Can I help you with anything?"

_I'm gonna help __you__, if you ever think that about my clothes again... _she thought, moping a little. These shoes had cost her two months' allowance; they deserved a little respect...

But she didn't get a chance to brood any more, because suddenly she heard an _All the cops in the donut shop say ay oh whey oh, ay oh whey oh _somewhere down the hall.

"Well, I hope. Actually something's happened," she started, amusing herself about Snyder's _Walk like A Egyptian _earworm and ignoring Giles' evil, evil thought for the time being. Concerning thoughts, her new-found mind-reading ability was much more worth discussing anyway.

* * *

At first not believing Buffy, but soon finding himself utterly amazed, when the blonde had been able to recite every thought his mind produced, Giles had recovered quickly, already thinking about how they could use Buffy's new ability against enemies.

But his slayer hadn't been listening, already having her own ideas about what to do with this power. Conveniently her first class of the day was physics – a subject she hated, especially since the teacher, at the beginning of each lesson, quizzed one student about what they had learned in the last class and also about the pages they had to read as homework for today's lesson.

Buffy feared this particular class of the day for exactly this reason. She was never prepared enough for these oral exams, had thus earned some bad grades in the past. It wasn't entirely her fault, as she always tried to justify herself to, well, herself; her slayer duties... and other activities... didn't always leave enough time to study.

Today was different. Buffy had volunteered as soon as the teacher had started the lesson and had begun his routine of picking out a 'victim' for today's exam. Surprising the teacher and making half the remaining students sigh a thought-sigh of relief, while the other half wondered what had gotten into the blonde, since they knew that _she_ hardly knew anything about physics.

Buffy had ignored them, had concentrated on the teacher's questions - and of course his thoughts! It had been a slight risk, since she hadn't known, if his thoughts would automatically give her the answers to the questions asked...

But they had, as detailed as Buffy had needed it, and had earned the slayer her first A in physics ever. Astonishing the teacher, the students... and even surprising Oz, who had been sitting right next to her. Though he hadn't voiced his surprise or shown any facial expressions that conveyed it. She certainly would have missed it, if it hadn't been for his thoughts, which had been commendatory and astounded.

Of course, there was a part of her that had felt bad for, well, basically cheating, because that is what she had just done. Another part of her, however, had felt that she wouldn't possess this power for long and had edged her on to make use of it while it was there.

And so she had moved right on to the next lesson of the day – English literature. Eagerly participating in the analysis of Shakespeare's _Othello_. This time not trying to impress the teacher in order to earn a good grade, but rather to have fun and annoy Nancy, one of the most awful grinds at Sunnydale High, often trying _too_ hard to shine with knowledge.

Though Willow's questioning thoughts about her having read and actually understood the reading for today and Freddie Iverson, the chief editor of the Sunnydale High Sentinel, taking notes about her and Nancy 'scrambling for the teacher's praise like pigeons for old bread crusts'... as he had called it, had diminished her fun somewhat.

And when in her third class of the day her art teacher's thoughts had complained in almost disgust about the apparently awful still life she had been creating there while the teacher's mouth had held nothing but feigned praise, Buffy had had enough.

She as well as the rest of the gang had the fourth period off today and thus she had decided it would be the perfect time to tell the others about her mind reading.

They had slowly entered the library, one after the other, their minds wondering what had possibly happened. Willow had been the only one on the approximately right track; she had had a feeling that this must be about the demon aspect and had, after entering the library and sitting down, silently kept checking Buffy's body for any signs and body parts that didn't belong. Panicking when she hadn't been able to find anything out of the ordinary. After all, boy demon parts could still be hidden under the skirt Buffy was wearing.

The blonde had smirked at her best friend's concern, relieved herself that the aspect didn't involve anything like that.

But then she and Giles had started telling the gang about her ability, and soon the relief, especially on Willow's part, had made room for panic.

"She can read our minds? Our every impulse and fantasy?" Xander now asked the ex-watcher, checking if he had understood their explanation correctly.

"Every one," Buffy answered for Giles with a simple shrug of her shoulders.

Xander's _Oh, God_ poured into her inner ear. He was less than happy to know that, thoughts going on in his brain that he didn't really want his friend to know.

One person also not happy – though not necessarily because of Buffy and her mind reading abilities – was Cordelia, standing a little apart, hands on her hips. An _I don't see what this has to do with me_wafted into Buffy's brain, just before Cordy's mouth muttered this exact thought out loud. The blonde slayer rolled her eyes at that. Nobody had forced her to come here. But she had met Wesley outside in the hall and had decided to come along with him, still as drawn to him as she had been at their first meeting.

Willow conformed with Buffy in ignoring Cordelia's thought and/or utterance; she herself voiced excitement about her friend's ability, "W-Well, I think it's great. Right...? I mean, you enjoy your other slayer powers," she smiled up at her friend, who was sitting right in front of her on top of the big wooden table...

"Yeah, and it'll be fun," the blonde went along. "And did you see Nancy Doyle's face in English Class today?" she suppressed a giggle, thinking back at seeing the annoyed look.

… However, Willow's thoughts told an entirely different story. Although right now having Buffy believe that she didn't have any problems with her being able to read thoughts, with her answer to Buffy's questions, her true thoughts about it slipped through. Verbally replying with shared amusement about Buffy showing Nancy in class, her thoughts let the blonde in on her fear. A fear of being around Buffy, when this one could hear _everything_ she thought about. Also thoughts that she didn't want to share with her.

"No, please, don't be!" Buffy pleaded, having heard the scared thoughts, seeing the face that grew more anxious with every second that passed. She didn't want Willow to be afraid to be around her. No one else either!

She remembered a plea along the lines of _Don't think... please... don't... _that she had picked up on as soon as the guys had learned about her ability, and now knew that it had belonged to Willow, though back then she hadn't been sure – a person's thought voice barely equaled the voice they produced with their vocal chords.

But it was clear to her now, and she wondered what her best friend could be thinking that she so absolutely didn't want her to hear. She had always thought, Willow would come to her, if anything bothered her. After all, friends help each other out... Right?

Getting more and more agitated herself, fearing Willow's thought had something to do with her – especially since now Willow was even avoiding eye contact with her - she was almost thankful, when Cordelia chimed in, asking "Okay, what are you talking about? Because you are _so_ creepy right now". The brunette was understandably confused, having missed out on Willow's thoughts.

"Um...," Giles started, he as well as the others also having witnessed the only half-spoken exchange between the friends; but he chose to ignore it and rather focused on the reasons for Buffy's new power. "I think there must be some precedence for occurrences such as this. Uh, I'll research it," he turned to the younger standing near him, "Wesley, can you give me a hand?"

"Of course," the man replied promptly, "Where do you think we should start?"

Buffy had no chance following their conversation or even trying to put Willow's mind at ease, since there was another thought voice drawing her attention. _I am my thoughts, _the voice started, making Buffy automatically look over at Oz, who sat next to Xander. _If they exist in her, Buffy contains everything that is me and she becomes me. I cease to exist. _Confused by his own realization, Oz simply "Hmm"'d at himself with his eyebrows scrunched together.

Xander's problems were of a different nature, as Buffy soon heard. _What am I gonna do? I think about sex all the time! Sex! Help! Four times five is thirty. Five times Faith is... Wait, Faith was one time. _Not even noticing right away that his vain attempt at mental calculation had turned into thoughts about the topic he didn't want to think about, he continued. _Hope Anya is gonna be gentler... Oh, stop!_

There was the realization, and he sat rigid in his chair, biting his bottom lip in worried anticipation. Though Giles and Wesley were still discussing their research plans eagerly right in front of them, it was little likely that Buffy hadn't heard him. Right...?

And as on cue, Buffy, her head having turned towards him slowly, her features having contorted more and more with every word his mind had thought up, now spoke incredulously, "You had sex with Faith?" The Anya thought on the back of her brain. Apparently _this_ thought was less 'shocking' for her... Possibly there hadn't been any act of nakedness involved... yet... from what Xander's thoughts had told her.

All remaining people in the room reacted to this revelation with mere shrugs and only partly uttered sounds of wonderment. All... but one.

Having concentrated hard on the two watchers and their conversation, all in effort to keep her own brain from thinking things she didn't want Buffy to hear, she hadn't seen who Buffy's eyes had been directed at. _What?! How did she... _she started panicking again, more than before, _I wasn't even thinking about... _Facing the table again, she only now noticed that all the mildly surprised faces were turned towards Xander. And she remembered what Faith had confessed to her. _Oh..._

Her heart racing faster, she saw Buffy's head whipping around to face her now, face even more shocked than it had been with Xander. "_You _had _sex _with _Faith_?!?!" Her voice louder and more disbelieving than it had been before.

An incredulous "What?!" from each Cordelia and Xander, who had turned from 'busted myself' to 'being shocked about his best friend' within seconds, followed, and Willow thought she was going to die right there.

Buffy felt bad. The second the words had left her mouth, she had wanted nothing more than to take them back. She knew she had just revealed Willow's secret, the things the redhead had desperately tried to not think about, to the entire gang. But her shock had been too overwhelming to stop her mouth from speaking.

Seeing tears welling up in Willow's eyes, her lips moving without being able to form any sound, Buffy helplessly looked at the watchers, not knowing what exactly she wanted them to do right now, but hoping they'd do something. _Anything. _Anything to solve this situation her mouth had just maneuvered them all into.

But what she saw almost gave her the third shock of the day. While Wesley looked somewhat surprised and confused himself, Giles... appeared startlingly calm. Almost as if... "And you knew about that!?" she addressed her former watcher.

At this, Giles finally showed some reaction. Adjusting the glasses on his nose – which... usually in situations like this... he would have already taken off and cleaned them – he stammered, "W-Well, not anything about... um, not any details... but---but…"

He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence – most likely, he didn't even have a plan about how to continue it – because Willow's sob-filled voice asked, "You all just simply look and shrug at Xander, but yell at me for doing what he did. How is that fair...?" She sprang up from her chair and ran from library, before anyone could stop her.

The room was quiet. It was long moments, before someone dared to speak, all the attendees wrapped up in their thoughts. At one point, Buffy had made a move to follow her friend, but then had decided against it, not knowing what she should say to her, if Willow even wanted to see her. Eventually it was Oz, who got up. "Uh... If you don't need me, I'm gonna follow the redhead," he uttered, the first thing he had said out loud since he had entered the library.

Walking to the doors more slowly than Willow had done, he exited. Leaving behind five unmoving figures.

* * *

Soon he found his ex-girlfriend. She hadn't gone far. Down the hall and one left turn, he saw her standing at a window in the students' lounge, looking out, back turned towards him. He could see she was crying fully now, though tried to suppress any sobs and sniffs as not to let anyone who passed by here at random know what was going on inside her right now.

But he knew. Could feel her desperation.

He approached her slowly, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder and waited for her to turn around.

And she did. At first, looking at him with unsure eyes, his face as unreadable as it so often was. But she knew why he had followed her, and soon found herself in his arms, accepting all the comfort the taciturn man could give her.

She buried her face in the crook of his neck and he held her close, softly combing his fingers through her hair. It felt so good, holding her in his arms again, even though he knew that he was only second best comfort. The person Willow probably longed for most right now wasn't here. And he wondered why.

Since he lacked the ability to mind read... luckily, as he thought, considering the hurt and confusion all this had brought on now... he couldn't hear Willow's thoughts on this topic.

Couldn't hear her silent pain about her girlfriend not having been there with her when everyone had found out, though he could feel it. Couldn't hear her blaming herself for this, since she had told her to sleep in. Also couldn't hear her worrying about her friends' reaction, fearing their rejection.

But he held her still. Would do that as long as needed. He didn't want to leave her alone right now.

* * *

Back in the library, the watchers and the remaining part of the Scoobie Gang still were transfixed. Xander having a hard time processing the fact that he and his best girl friend had slept with the same, well, girl. Buffy having to deal with three revelations, still unsure what she found most shocking – Faith and Xander, Faith and _Willow _or Xander and Anya... which possibly was going to happen sometime...soon...?

Cordelia was a little less shocked about the revelations. Her ex-boyfriend and a slayer. It wasn't entirely surprising for her – she had always figured it might happen, if he ever got the chance. And Willow and Faith? She remembered the conversation she had had with the brunette. The one that had started with less than friendly bickering about relationships and especially her feelings for Wesley and had ended with her taking one step too far and, figuratively speaking, laughing at the idea of Faith leading a relationship.

Back then, Faith's part hurt, part angry reaction had made her wonder about Faith and relationships. And now she wondered about this again. Was this between the slayer and Willow more than a one-time-thing? Were they in an actual relationship? And if so, had they been dating already when she had clashed with Faith?

All she knew right now... something was or had been going on between the two girls. And she couldn't stop one thought concerning this to enter her brain. _See? I knew it... _"See? I knew deep down Peppermint Patty always had a thing for girls,"she laughed a little, not meaning for her sentence to sound offensive in any way.

But the others just looked at her with a mixture of emotions written across their features – they didn't find this particularly funny, it seemed.

"Um," Giles, now really taking off his glasses, murmured, "I think it'd be best, if we finished this meeting here. All necessary has been said," he concluded, adding an _And some other things, _not looking at anyone in particular.

Cordelia was the first to leave, for the first time in what was possibly forever not using the opportunity to flirt with Wesley on the way out. Xander nodded in agreement to what Giles and said and left soon after her, though unsure of where to go and what to do, too confused to form proper thoughts.

Buffy stayed behind at first, her feelings not unlike Xander's. But when Giles offered that she could help with the research he and Wesley wanted to do on her case, she shook her head with a sigh, "No, you two do that. I better go, I'm getting a headache, anyway". With that, she grabbed her belongings and left the two worried man alone.

* * *

She didn't know how long she had cried, standing here in Oz' comforting embrace. It felt like hours, but had probably only been a few minutes. But enough to thoroughly soak her ex-boyfriend's shirt, as she noticed, when she finally moved her face off his shoulder, her sobs having subsided now.

He didn't mind, she knew.

Looking at him, she saw a small smile on his lips. "You okay?" he asked softly, not willing to release his hold on her yet.

She simply nodded briefly, a 'yeah' to his question would be too much in this situation. She was far from being okay, but he had made her feel a little better. And thus, "Thank you," she thanked him with a tiny smile on her own part, considering leaning in to give him a short kiss on the cheek, but deciding against it.

"Anytime," he replied, releasing her, when he noticed she was pulling away.

"I think I should go... and talk to Giles," she explained and Oz nodded in understanding. She needed to know how the watcher knew about her and Faith.

Walking away, she wasn't about to say anything more, but Oz called out her name and she turned around one last time. "It'll turn out alright eventually. Don't worry", he said encouragingly. Willow smiled in return, hoping he was right.

* * *

Buffy was sitting on a bench under a tree outside the school building. She needed a quiet place to deal with her own thoughts rather than everyone else's for a second.

This place hadn't been easy to find. There were just too many students in this school. Too many students with problems, which they inadvertently let her know about whenever she crossed their path.

She started to feel increasingly bad about it, but there wasn't anything she could do – even if she wanted to – and now she _did_ want to – _not_ hearing other people's thoughts was just impossible. As much as she tried to block them out... it simply didn't work.

But she felt worst about her friends. This mind reading... it had started out fun, but it had turned into the contrary all too soon. Secrets had been revealed.

And it was her fault. Well, considering Willow's secret, it had been Xander's fault. _If he hadn't thought about Faith... _she tackled this thought for the umpteenth time ever since Giles had closed their meeting, shaking her head. Trying to pass the blame to someone else didn't help the situation.

But the situation as it was now... it was confusing. Apart from Xander and Anya, where she wasn't entirely sure what it really was about, only one thing seemed clear. Xander and Faith had slept together once, from what she knew... from what Xander had told her. But Willow and Faith...? What was that? A one-night-stand? A relationship?

Maybe she was about to find out.

From afar she saw the one person approaching, who was involved in _both_ her friends' sexcapades.

Faith had been about to enter the building, expecting to meet up with the gang in the cafeteria or lounge before going to see Giles to ask him if he needed any help; with researching Buffy's demon aspect, for example. But then she had seen Buffy and had decided to come over, not even thinking about why her fellow slayer was sitting there all alone, a sight that was actually pretty unusual.

But today there was nothing that could put worry in her mind, could dampen her mood in any way. She wore a big grin, as Buffy could already see from far, far away. It equaled the one Willow had worn yesterday.

Soon Buffy learned what was behind it. Faith wasn't shy about her thoughts. Understandably. Why would she, unsuspecting of the fact that the blonde could hear her?

Buffy listened, trying not to, but yet again failing miserably. Heard what the two of them had done last night... and the night before.

Apparently Willow had taken a shine to Faith's toys, had asked an entirely-_not_-tired-from-patrol-Faith, if she wanted to try again. The twinkle in her eyes and a semi-seductive smirk telling the brunette just what exactly Willow was referring to.

And they _had_ played with the toys again. The redhead relieved from the certain amount of nervousness she had felt the night before, had been both commanding the demanding this time, eager to try out new things. And what patrol hadn't managed to do to Faith... Willow had done it successfully. Figuratively speaking, the slayer had thrown her hands up in surrender at some point, confessing to Willow that she was tired now.

Happily satisfied, immensely proud of and amazed at Willow, but tired.

Her girlfriend had smiled at her, a tiny bit, but really just a tiny bit disappointed, wondering what had happened to the slayer stamina Faith loved to brag about so much. But snuggling close to her, she had granted Faith her still well-deserved sleep – after all, the act itself hadn't been disappointing at all. Falling asleep soon after her, she had been woken from her alarm clock and her slayer rubbing her eyes with a groan. That's when she had told her to sleep in and come to school later in the day to see if Giles and Wesley needed her.

That's what Faith had done and was doing now. And she didn't mind being out of the house for a while. A little boring her last two days, spent at home all book-wormish and studying more or less hard had been. She needed to get out from time to time.

_Plus, possibly seeing my Willow-Pillow... always a plus. Wonder what she's planned for tonight, _her grin became even wider, even though anatomically that was almost impossible. _Damn, should have definitely brought on the toys sooner. Though... nah... we've had fun before this... _"Hey, B," she greeted her friend as she plopped down next to her, the effects of her thoughts lingering on her face.

How she wasn't confused by her disturbed look, was a mystery to Buffy. Because she was pretty damn certain her face spoke volumes right now. _Okay_... Buffy exhaled slowly; that had definitely been more info than she had wanted. Ever.

On the plus side, she now had insight on Faith and Willow, knew that they were in a relationship... apparently...

On the negative side, she felt a little stupid. Thinking back, there had been signs within the last weeks. And jokingly she had wondered about what was possibly going on between the two of them. But she had never seriously considered that a relationship... a _sexual_ relationship... was the reason for the changes in behavior.

Herself equally as unaware of Buffy's knowledge as the blonde had been to her relationship with the redhead, Faith started conversation. "So, what's up, aspect girl? Did the demon-whammy do its work yet? I don't see bumpies or anything". Well, Buffy was a little red in the face, but that was probably nothing, Faith figured.

Buffy felt the warmth on her face, knew she must be blushing - thanks to Faith's thoughts about her best friend. Not knowing what else to say, too busy getting images of Faith and Willow... doing... stuff... out of her mind, she simply replied, "I-I think we need to talk".

_to be continued..._

* * *

**A/N: **Took us 200.000 and something words, but now the gang knows... Hm... :P

Happy almost new year and I hope you all will continue reading this story in 2010. 200.000 more words to come. *Kidding*... I think... :D


	55. Freight trains of thoughts

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. Parts of the story line and dialogue taken from the episode "Earshot". No copyright infringement intended!  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

**A/N: **Back from hibernation! Or something like that. Sorry this update took so damn long - I'll try to behave next time :) I hope you're still following this story. Remember, we stopped at Buffy saying to Faith that they needed to talk :P

* * *

CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE --- FREIGHT TRAINS OF THOUGHTS

"What is it?" Wesley asked, approaching Giles who was sitting at the desk in his library office, his eyes focused on a book. The watchers had chosen to ignore everything that had happened with the kids earlier for now – there wasn't anything they could to about it anyway – and rather pursued their original plan of researching Buffy's demon aspect further, hoping they could find something about other occurrences like this.

And now Giles had found finally something. "Here," he showed Wesley a passage in one of his newer volumes, "it's happened before. A man in Ecuador. Quite recently".

"Can we contact him?" the younger watcher asked, hoping Giles had read something about how this power would develop further, if the symptoms would change somehow. To the worse, for instance.

Because, apart from this ability being unnatural, the watchers had been slightly alarmed by Buffy mentioning a headache – though, of course, that might just be a side-effect of several people's thoughts invading her brain at once.

But still they hoped something or someone could give them information about an antidote of some sort.

"I'd say not," Giles replied, "He can't communicate with anyone".

"Dead?"

"No... he's in complete isolation", the older man took off his glasses. A bad sign in most situations. "The power -- he can't shut it off". He feared they had been right in worrying about Buffy.

The text described the man's power having gotten increasingly stronger, so strong that after some time he couldn't stand having other people even remotely near him. The only way he could communicate with the outside world now was via letters he wrote.

His family had shown them to experts in demon affairs, hoping someone could help the man, but thus far none of them had found anything.

"Hey," the men were interrupted by a small voice behind them and turned to see Willow standing in the doorway. "I..."

She had come here to talk to Giles about his knowledge of her relationship with Faith. However, now she started to feel like she couldn't. Not because of Wesley's presence, though this was an undeniable obstacle as well. No, it suddenly hit her that she didn't know how Giles, the man almost more like a father to her than her own one, thought about her being in love with another girl. It scared her. But now she couldn't just turn around and run off... Right?

She took courage and decided to stay. "I, um... Well, do you need any help? With research, I mean".

She had heard the last bits of the watchers' conversation and figured it was probably more important right now than her problems. After all, she hoped they could end Buffy's mind reading 'fun' somehow – not just for her own sake, but because what Giles had just said was alarming; she didn't want that to happen to her best friend.

Plus, researching was a way to _not_ talk about her and Faith.

Wesley, however, partly foiled her plans. "Um, I think I might have a book on this matter at my home," he started, taking a step closer to the door, "Maybe I can find something in there. I'll have a look," he said to the older watcher, smiling politely at Willow, before he headed out.

His sudden departure resulted in the situation that Willow wanted and dreaded at the same time... Now she was alone with Giles.

She stood fixed near the door, unsure of what was about to happen. Giles looked at her pensively for a second, but when he noticed the increasingly worried expression on the girl's face, he got up and pulled up another chair from a corner of his office. Sending her an encouraging look – at least he hoped it was encouraging – he nodded for her to sit down.

This did nothing to reduce Willow's nervousness, but at least a start had been made. Sitting down, she waited for what would happen next. She didn't know, if she should wait for him to start a conversation or if she should begin herself.

But when he then made a move to begin, she felt a little more relaxed. Especially since he chose to start with the current status of their research. "I'm afraid this is the only thing we could find on this aspect so far," he showed her the paragraph he had just come across before she had made an appearance. "None of my older books hold any information about it, unfortunately," he explained and Willow just nodded, half her attention on the text. "But maybe Wesley will really find something else".

Although he thought and feared it possible that Wesley had just made up an excuse to leave the two of them alone, he was thankful for it. Giles wanted to talk to her, or, rather, let her talk about what must obviously troubling her right now. He had tried to 'confront' her about it several weeks ago already, but had 'chickened out', to say it in the words of his protegees. He himself didn't have any problems with this relationship, though it had taken him some time to get used to the idea of the two girls as a couple. But he was okay with it now and really wanted Willow to know that as well.

He knew she must be feeling scared right now, afraid of being rejected by him and even more by her friends. And he felt the need to show her that at least he supported her, hoping her friends would soon follow and tell her the same.

And when she finally turned her attention to him, her concern for Buffy evident - she, just like the older watcher, hoping, Wesley hadn't just made up an excuse after all - he saw his chance. "Do you want to talk?" he asked, his voice and gentle as possible.

Willow knew he wasn't referring to the text, his eyes carrying the same gentleness as his voice. She just exhaled and nodded, feeling this wouldn't be all bad.

* * *

Surprisingly, they didn't talked much.

Actually they didn't talk at all. At first.

Faith sat there, waiting for Buffy to begin.

But nothing happened.

The still unsuspecting brunette's face took on a curious expression, as she wondered what her friend had wanted to talk about and wouldn't talk about now. Did it have something to do with her aspect or was it about something else entirely?

Buffy avoided her look, suddenly not able to bring herself to talk to Faith about what she had just found out about her. The something involving her_ two_ best friends.

But when Faith finally asked, "B?", she knew she had to come up with something. But what?

"Uh, you know what? Let's go eat something," she smiled a rather tense smile, getting up and making a mildly confused Faith follow her into the cafeteria.

Having reached one of the hubs of activities at Sunnydale High and getting in line for food, Faith was surprised to see that the burrito and the little bowl of Jell-O she put on their shared tray for herself was way more than the blonde was able to load onto it. Was a small plate of mashed potatoes and sauce really enough for her fellow slayer today?

She silently concluded that Buffy wasn't really hungry and started wondering, if the older girl was just stalling, trying to avoid talking about the demon aspect, and had brought them here just because of that.

If so, Buffy obviously regretted this probable panic reaction now. She was upset about having this _many_ people this _close_ to her. Faith observed the blonde throwing anxious, bewildered glances about her, eyeing some of the students near them strangely.

The brunette turned her head around, hoping to see the familiar faces of their friends somewhere, hoping they knew what was possibly up with Buffy. Because B's weird behavior and the fact that she hadn't said anything to her since they had gotten up from the bench unsettled her more and more.

She didn't see them. Any of them. Neither Xander or even Oz or Cordelia. Nor Willow... her Willow. The person who – despite the situation – immediately brought a smile to her face and made her yet again think back to the last nights spent with her...

… But this time she didn't get far in her thoughts about all the little naughties performed and commandos moaned... since suddenly Buffy, her eyes looking straight ahead, not daring or wanting to make eye contact considering what Faith was thinking right now... murmured, "Stop thinking like that. About her".

She really didn't need to hear thoughts like this – again. It didn't help her with dealing with Faith and Willow, if she was in on the graphic details.

Faith, still busy producing the images Buffy was trying hard to block out, needed a moment before she realized what the blonde had just said. And when she did, part of her wasn't sure she had heard correctly, while a much larger part felt that she damn well _had._

A halting "W-What?" was all her mouth could muster, her brain not really helping in the production of a more eloquent utterance.

Buffy sighed silently, preparing herself for telling Faith just exactly what had happened to her as a result of her infection with the demon's blood and more importantly what she had found out because of this.

Lowering her voice to make sure only Faith and her slayer hearing could hear her, she began, formulating her words carefully. "This demon thing, the aspect. I can... I can hear thoughts. Yours. And everyone else's, for that matter. And I know".

That was all she told her; she knew it was all Faith needed to know right now.

She risked a quick glance sideways and saw a multitude of expressions fighting for dominance on the brunette's face. One of them was congruent with the _Oh... crap_ thought the slayer's mind produced at the same time. The other ones – the fear or respectively the shock she had already seen on Willow and Xander's faces.

On top of that there was a tight-lipped realization. Since Buffy had taken _so_ long to let her in on what was happening, she had had more than enough time for her private thoughts about Will. More than enough time to let the blonde in on them. Accidentally. Or rather, unknowingly.

But she wasn't angry at her. Much more she was afraid.

Yes, now she knew that Buffy knew. What she didn't know was how much Buffy knew - if the one night between her and Xand had also come to the blonde's knowledge. What if she was aware of that too? What did her fellow slayer think of her in that case? And what about... the others...? Did the rest of the gang knew? Wesley? Giles...?

Her mind was racing. She wanted to ask Buffy about it, all of it. She had to know where they stood now, how the others might behave towards her and... _oh God, Will_...

Only now it dawned on her that Buffy had most likely gotten wind of her and Will's relationship by overhearing her redhead's thoughts. It dawned on her that the blonde might have confronted her with what she had heard. Shocked. Confused. It dawned on her that Will had been alone with the blonde and – worst case scenario – with the rest of the gang when their secret had come out. All alone. Because she had slept in and Willow had let her!

Cursing under her breath, she desperately wanted to ask Buffy about Will, where she was, _how_ she was. All questions about the others had lost their importance within seconds. Willow was all that mattered now.

However, now didn't seem the time to ask the blonde. Not because she was afraid to ask... well, not anymore... or because the cafeteria was so not the perfect location to discuss these personal matters any further... she didn't care about that anymore, though she now figured this was the reason Buffy had brought her here in the first place - to avoid a conversation like this... until she had made up her mind about her and Will? But because the little blonde seemed to be concerned with more pressing matters right now.

Faith saw how the other girl brought a hand up to her temple and rubbed this particular spot, as to soothe her headache. Now that Faith knew what was going on inside her fellow slayer's head, she could understand the gesture and also the frantic glances Buffy had started throwing about as they had entered this crowded place.

The brunette tried to neglect her own problems, her fears for the time being, her concern for Buffy increasing. With every second that passed and every step they took towards the waiting cashier, Buffy's condition seemed to be getting worse. The pained expression on her face sucked-in breath between between gritted teeth weren't an all too good sign.

Opening her mouth for the first time since Buffy told her she knew about her sexual activities, she asked, "A-Are you okay?" though knowing this was a pretty stupid question. She wondered how exactly the foreign thoughts presented themselves in Buffy's head; how loud they were, how many, if she had some control over what she wanted to hear. From looking at Buffy, she only knew the blonde must be hurting.

And Buffy did. After she had let Faith in on her knowledge, all thoughts around her had started to blend together. She had heard hardly anything that Faith had thought afterwards; it was getting increasingly hard for her to filter out one single thought let alone to block them out altogether.

Still she replied, "I'm fine, just a little..." She shook her head and removed the hand from her temple to quickly pay for her and Faith's not all too copious meal, before turning around and looking for a table to sit at apparently. "Let's just eat. And then maybe after that we can talk... okay?" she sent the brunette a tentative, not too open smile, still not entirely willing to talk about this – not yet.

Faith followed her, similar thoughts running through her own head. Because what she should say to the blonde she didn't know yet. She wanted to talk to Willow about it first. And that, of course, meant finding her first!

But then something happened that Faith felt would foil her plans – for now. Since suddenly Buffy stopped. Halfway to where there would have been an empty table for them. For a moment she wondered what was going on, but her puzzlement was quickly replaced by worry for her fellow slayer, as Buffy dropped their tray without warning.

She watched almost in trance, as the contains of their plates landed in one heap on the cafeteria floor. The spiteful clapping and laughter of the students, however around them, brought her back to her senses. Just in time to see Buffy whipping her head around, looking at several students in their immediate proximity, even grabbing some of them, scrutinizing them, but apparently not finding what she was looking for.

When Buffy went up to a startled-looking Jonathan, Faith finally called out, "B, what's going on?!" Leaving alone the boy who had given her little Will her first ever kiss, Buffy turned to face her, as if suddenly remembering that she was still there.

There was a look of horror on the blonde's face, which slowly mixed with hope, as she realized that the brunette was with her. Faith was about to ask again, what was happening here – or more precisely, in the older slayer's head... And she knew Buffy wanted to tell her.

Already having made a step towards Faith and having opened her mouth to say something, however, Buffy stopped anew. Her hands flew to her head simultaneously, covering her ears, trying to block out thoughts, as Faith concluded, because all she herself heard was silence. None of the students were talking currently.

The following events happened so fast that Faith almost failed to react in time. A soft whimper, before the hands fell from Buffy's ears, as the slayer passed out and sank down.

It was only at the very last second that Faith was able to move. She caught her fellow slayer just before the blonde's head could hit the floor.

Suddenly there was a dead silence around them. The students of Sunnydale High stood or sat around, looking half curious about what was going to happen next, half shocked about what had just happened.

As Faith was shifting Buffy in her arms, cradling the little girl's head and upper body in her left arm, which left her right arm free to move, she noticed the stares and it annoyed her.

"Don't you have anything else to do?!" she snapped, her dangerous eyes showed them how just how irritating she found their reaction.

Immediately, the majority of students averted their eyes and tentatively went back to eating, though still sending cautious glances Faith's way to see, if they were save and if that was what she expected them to do now.

Some of the other students, however, were still standing about, probably immobilized by the shock. "Somebody take care of this," Faith instructed, motioning with her head towards the tray that Buffy had dropped earlier.

"I-I'll do it," Jonathan, standing about four feet away, said and took off to get the necessary clean-up material. It was hard to tell, if his helpfulness resulted from his wanting to be helpful or from his being afraid of the brunette.

"Thanks, J," Faith muttered, mainly focused on Buffy now. She had no idea if Jonathan had heard the last words or not.

Looking down at the blonde, Faith lifted her right hand to this one's cheek and patted it tentatively, but repeatedly. "Hey, hey, B…Buffy," she tried to wake her but, just as expected, didn't receive any reaction from the older girl.

Getting an idea, she made a move to get up. Just when she was about to do so, she saw Percy nearing them with a worriedly-helpful expression on his face. "Wait," he saw what she wanted to do and reached out with his arms; "I'll help you with her," he said, intending to take the blonde from the supposedly physically-less-strong-than-him girl.

He was perplex, when he noticed that the brunette stood up easily and cradled the older slayer in her arms like she was just a bag full of feathers – literally.

"No, thanks," she smiled at him briefly, showing that she was still thankful for him wanting to help. "I got her. I think she just needs some fresh air," Faith said and began walking out of the cafeteria. She herself was worried that 'fresh air' wasn't really enough to get the blonde to wake up again.

Percy followed on her heels, the other students…stared again. This time wondering if the brunette – the mysterious girl that they had seen at school so often in the last months, that they knew wasn't even a student here, that they didn't know the name of, only knew that she belonged with Buffy and her friends – had some kind of supernatural powers, since carrying the admittedly lithe girl didn't seem to phase her the littlest bit.

"I'm gonna bring her out," Faith informed Percy with a nod of her head to one of the side doors. "Can you go to the library and tell Gil…Mr Giles to come out there?"

"Why?" he asked, clearly not comprehending what the librarian should have to do with this.

"Don't ask, just do it, okay?" Faith said, her look portraying that she wouldn't allow any disobedience to her order. She didn't have the nerve for this now.

He finally complied, walking off into the opposite direction, leaving her to carry Buffy out of the building. And as she did so and reached the lawn outside the building, where she lay the still unconscious blonde down gently, her mind had finally time to fully catch up with what had just happened.

The something that had happened before Buffy had collapsed, that is.

She still had the terrible urge to find her Willow and the still terrible feeling of being in the dark about who knew about them and what they thought about their relationship. Wishing that Will would just magically appear right next to her and and at the same time fearing that some of the others might, she waited. For Giles, the one person she knew would be here any minute now.

And this knowledge didn't do anything to help her relax.

_to be continued..._


	56. We okay now?

**Title:** Purple Rain (The Story Formerly Known As "That Night")  
**Author: **lilyme  
**Summary:** Set in BtVS Season 3. Can changing one pivotal event be the beginning of something entirely unexpected? Or will things still turn out the same?  
**Pairing: **A slayer and a Witch (OR - two people much more similar than expected)  
**Rating:** PG-13 to R  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Network. Parts of the story line and dialogue taken from the episode "Earshot". No copyright infringement intended!  
**Dedication:** To the Buffyverse-characters and the people behind them (actors and writers)

**Author's notes: **I'm so terribly sorry for not updating in such a long time. But here we are again. "It's alive!" ;) I hope the next update will be quicker... Anyway, a merry Christmas, guys! Thank you so much for your awesome reviews. And also thanks to everyone favoriting this story! :)

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CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX - WE OKAY NOW...?

For several moments, silence hang in the small library office. It was a comfortable silence, however, which had been preceded by a hesitant, yet open talk about the recent developments.

Giles had begun, knowing that Willow wanted to know how he knew about her relationship to the dark slayer and also aware of the fact that it would be easier for his protegee, if he initiated the conversation.

Cautiously, and not without some stuttering, he had started to convey his support for Willow's new love, but had also explained about his initial shock about seeing the two girls together.

'Seeing together' could be taken quite literally in Giles' case, as Willow learned, when the librarian finally confided in her, _how_ exactly he had come to know about the redhead being involved with the slayer - a couple of weeks back, when he had searched his library stacks for the redhead and had at last found her... in the brunette slayer's gentle embrace and with this one's lips nibbling on her neck.

He hadn't portraying any of those details, however, and had settled for some brief outlining of the scene so that Willow got an idea, which exact event he was referring to. Neither had he mentioned an incident preceding this event in the stacks - a time when he had overheard the couple's conversation about possible make-out-spots.

Giles had felt that hearing his 'censored' version would be probably upsetting enough for the redhead as it was, and he had wanted to keep their conversation as light as possible under the given circumstances.

From what he could tell, Willow had seemed grateful for that, yet the girl had needed a few moments of silence to digest the information she had just gotten – and he had granted it to her gladly.

To his surprise, it had then been Willow who had intrusted in him on her own free will how she and Faith had gotten together about a month ago, of course editing out all the all too intimate details – after all she didn't want to scare him away now that their conversation about this seemed to be going so smoothly.

Still she hadn't failed to talk about the big drama that had followed their first night together. About Faith leaving her to wake up alone in the girl's lonely little motel room. About Faith trying to avoid her the following days and about her getting more desperate about this with every 'accidental' and, on Faith's part, unwanted meeting - a desperation, which, thinking back to it, Giles clearly had noticed, but had decided against speaking about to Willow - until she had been finally able to confront and talk to her... an undertaking, which itself could hardly be described as successful. What with Faith trying her best to crush Willow completely, to make her leave and never spare a single look at her again.

But the redhead had seen through this ploy, had felt that Faith's mouth and Faith's heart were speaking two entirely different volumes. And so she had left, but not without hoping that things would work out eventually. Which they had... certainly also thanks to a Willowy-Vamp-Doppelgänger confusion...

Until this day Willow didn't know the brunette's reason for suddenly breaking up with her and she didn't want to think about it any more - _that_ half-week of their relationship still too upsetting for her. Giles, however, had gotten all ears, when Willow had mentioned Faith's strange behavior after their night spent together. He knew that the younger slayer could be pretty impulsive; however, he also knew that she deeply cared for the redhead – he had observed her behavior towards the other girl and had no reason to doubt her intentions and her love for the redhead. And he was sure that it had been like that from their first night on.

Thus he had wondered if there had been more to this discrepancy in their relationship history. Maybe if things had cooled down somewhat, he would ask Faith about it. To make sure there weren't any other reasons than just plain... well, unpredictability...?

After talking about this low-point in their relationship, Willow's mood had become noticeably lighter. Her nervousness about having _The Talk_ with her father figure almost being gone completely by now even made it possible for her to speak to him about some little aspects of their relationship – as for example how it felt living with Faith or how Faith had given her one of the most thoughtful gifts she's ever gotten.

Uh... no, not Gilbert, the _frog_. She had by now made her peace with him, but there was still one thing she liked more.

Over the course of the conversation, Giles had noticed Willow's hand moving over the amulet that she wore on a necklace every day now, had noticed her thumb caressing it gently, and hadn't been surprised when she finally talked about this little item and officially told him that Faith had gotten it for her and that it was meant to keep her safe. Of course, Giles had known this already, had overheard Willow talking to Buffy about it.

He decided against mentioning that he had given Faith the money for the gifts, feeling that there was no need to do that. But it pleased him to see that Willow held the little token of affection – which conveniently was also a well-thought-of token of protection – so dearly.

Finally he was the one that broke the content silence that had settled in between them in the last few seconds, seeing as how obviously in love the two teenagers were once again feeling the need to show his encouragement. "As I said, Willow," he resumed gently, you have my support in this situation. I know things may not always be easy, and Buffy and Xander might need some time to fully comprehend your relationship, but I promise you, things are going to be fine," he gave her an soft smile, which she, after a brief moment of hesitation – undoubtedly thinking about her friends –, returned. "You love her clearly, and from what I have seen, she certainly feels this love equally as much. Together you will get through any rough times that might come. And I said this to Faith before... if you need anything, an advice or maybe financial help, I'm here for you".

Willow was grateful for his words and gladly accepted his offer with a nod of her head, tears of relief threatening to spill making it temporarily hard for her to also express her gratitude verbally.

Playing Giles' words over in her head, she noticed something. He had told Faith this before. Before... he knew about them or after? Not that it was that important, though part of her was certainly curious. But somehow it only now made her fully realize for how long the watcher had known about their relationship already. "But... But why didn't you say anything sooner?" she asked, mildly serious.

Giles almost raised his eyebrows at her question; after all, they should have been the ones telling, but he just replied, "I think my reasons weren't much different from yours." He adjusted his glasses, before he continued his explanation, "I was afraid. I didn't want to scare you".

That Willow could understand. There had been only one person, who had asked them if they were involved. Ironically it was Giles' female counterpart – the woman, who in some way played the role of a surrogate mother in Faith and her life. Joyce. She certainly had needed time as well to observe the situation first, hadn't jumped in right away and asked them. Afraid of hurting them with any all too probing behavior. Maybe Giles would have just needed a little more time; though she agreed with his little raised-eyebrow-look, which she knew how to read.

But now all that didn't matter anymore. They were out and Giles and Joyce supported them. And Willow trusted her 'parents' enough to accept their words of encouragement and the assurance that their friends would eventually be okay with their relationship as well.

She remembered how Joyce' confrontation and their eventual confession had resulted in a group hug with Faith also involved. Faith, it seemed, still wasn't here... which somewhat concerned Willow – part of her wondered what would happen, if Faith ran into Xander or Cordelia or even worse mind-reading Buffy without knowing that they, well, _knew_ by now. Still the redhead felt the need to give the librarian a hug.

But just when she was about to near him, Percy came stumbling in, confusion and worry written on his face. The confusion, clearly caused by Faith making him go in here to get Giles, doubled quickly when his eyes fell on Willow. He wondered what the redhead was doing in the librarian's office... which wasn't usually a place to find students in. If he didn't know any better, he'd say Willow and Faith and the others had some other connection than just the plain student-librarian one. Which would explain why Faith had made him go and look for Giles.

Giles' confusion equaled his. He had hardly seen the young man in the library, certainly not in his office. Maybe he and Willow had a tutoring session scheduled that would explain his presence. But a quick glance in the redhead's direction told him that she was equally surprised to see him here.

"Hey, uh, hi," he started, recovering somewhat, "Faith, uh, made me come get you," he said in Giles' direction, though his eyes for a second flitted over to Willow again, who upon hearing her girlfriend's name immediately perked up. "I think there's something wrong with Buffy. I went to the cafeteria to get some lunch and noticed this big tumult there. And then I saw Buffy lying on the ground."

"Good Lord," Giles exclaimed and immediately made a move to get up. His recent discoveries gave him good reason to be all the more worried about any changes in the blonde slayer. A possible collapse could mean that the voices in her head had already started to become stronger.

Willow followed suit, suddenly very concerned for her best friend, "What happened?" And also wondering how Faith was involved in this, since Percy had mentioned her. Her worry about unsuspecting Faith running into Buffy … mind-reading Buffy... returned immediately; it seemed most likely now. But she knew that she should save her fear for later – right now the priority was making sure that Buffy was okay.

"I don't really know," the young man confessed. "Maybe she collapsed or something. But Faith was there, and she carried her out into the yard," he pointed into the direction the slayer had taken. "I offered to take Buffy for her, but she didn't let me," he shrugged mildly with a small grin, trying to lighten the mood, though the strength of the brunette still surprised him.

"Well, thank you, uh, Percy," the librarian nodded, already moving out of the office, his priority clearly checking on Buffy.

"Don't you wanna call an ambulance or something?" Percy asked a probably not too unusual question. For other people... normal people... that might be one plausible reaction to seeing someone collapse for no visible reason.

"Uh...not just yet," Willow jumped in, now moving towards the exit as well, motioning for Percy to come with. "We want to check on her first. Maybe she'll feel better in a few minutes." _At least I hope so..._

_

* * *

_

Faith's hopes equaled her girlfriend's. After she had laid the blonde on the ground, she had pulled off her jacket and put it under this one's head to make her more comfortable. On normal days, the blonde would most likely kick her ass to Timbuktu, if she woke up, found herself lying on mother earth's mucky surface and learned that Faith had put her there.

But today wasn't a normal day; today she'd... hopefully... wake up, give her a weird look, a look caused by recent revelations and then explain what had just happened to her in the cafeteria.

Yeah... that's probably how it would go down in a short while. Still Faith was considerate enough to try and not mess up Buffy's hair. Maybe part of her was hoping that the blonde's gratefulness for that would temporarily take her mind off her and Willow; but a bigger part had actually done it to busy herself.

She knew that she didn't have to wait long for Giles to appear – and that made her nervous. Trying to make Buffy more comfy was at least a small way to relax. And maybe to not think for a few second.

That really only worked for a short moment, however, her thoughts quickly going back to her conversation with Buffy... and all the things she had thought about in the blonde's pretense... _Willow_-things she had thought about.

She wasn't embarrassed about it, though her thoughts … in _all _detail... must have given Buffy the shock... well, one of the shocks of her life. Right now she just felt a strange mixture of relief and worry. They had wanted to tell the others about their relationship, but hadn't found the right moment for it. The way it had happened now was unfortunate, but they couldn't change it now. They could only make the best of it and hope that the probable awkwardness would leave them and their friends in a few days... weeks... months...?

With that thought about awkwardness on her mind, she tensed slightly when she saw Giles emerging from the school building, approaching them. She tried to put on a neutral face, still unsure if the recent developments – the ones not concerning Buffy - had already come to his knowledge.

All intentions of appearing neutral, however, were forgotten when... _Baby?_... Willow appeared behind him moments later.

Willow was here. She hadn't magically popped up next to her, as she had wished a few minutes before, but she was here now.

It took Willow only one look at Faith's features to know that Buffy had definitely told her about her knowledge. Tension and relief were written over the brunette's face.

With Percy in tow they finally reached the crouching Faith and the still unconscious Buffy. And when Giles cowered down and sent a too warm smile and a "May I?" Faith's way to indicate that he needed some space to check on Buffy, Faith knew all she needed to know. She quickly glanced up to Willow, who was still standing about five feet from them, to get a final confirmation for her assumption. This one nodded and even showed a hint of a smile.

The smile relieved Faith, but surprised her at the same time. She had expected to see more... despair... on her girl's face - as horrible as that would have been for her to see. Her mind worked on overload, processing what this current emotion could mean. Thinking back, Buffy had been fairly shaken by hearing about her and Will. She had figured that the rest of the gang and their older librarian-slash-watcher-friends would feel the same – always assuming they were aware of their relationship. But maybe she had misjudged Giles. That or there was another story there that she wasn't aware of... The fact that Willow and Giles and apparently been at the same location – the library – when Percy had found them could mean that they had just been talking. Which in case of a successful talk could explain the smiles. So... they seemed to be a good sign either way.

Checking on Buffy, Giles also noticed good signs. "Breathing and pulse are normal," he announced, giving them all some more reason to relax. Routinely he checked if there was any visible trauma to the head that could have also caused this collapse – even though from his recent studies he knew the more likely reason for it. He didn't find any such injuries, and since the incident had happened only about five minutes ago, he was positive that there had never been any. Slayer healing was quick, but it wouldn't have kicked in by now.

Unfortunately slayer healing was not able to fight the poison, the demon aspect coursing through Buffy's body. And until they hopefully found an antidote, they had to observe and most importantly _discuss_ any changes in the slayer's condition that would give them a clue.

Percy standing right here within earshot made that discussing part a little hard. Only how to make him understand that without actually spilling anything? Taking off his glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose, Giles tried to think up a way to make the young man leave.

Somehow Willow seemed to be able to read Giles' thoughts... uh...or something like that... In any way she felt what the watcher was planning. "Uh... Percy? Um...," she stammered, but apparently had trouble finding a plausible excuse as well. "Can you... uh..." She looked down at the three people lying and crouching before them, trying to get an idea.

Faith had heard the stammering and now caught her look. She too knew that in order to talk about what had happened they needed to get rid of the unsuspecting man. "Yeah...," she took over, "...can you maybe...," equally as helpless, until it finally hit her, _oh!_ "...look for Xander and tell him we're out here?"

That this was maybe a not so good idea she only noticed when she saw Willow's alarmed look. _Right_... _stupid_... At least that reaction answered one more of the many questions swirling around in her head. So Xander knew as well. And probably wasn't as cool about it as Giles seemed to be. Thus is was no surprise that Willow didn't seem happy about her suggestion.

Her eyes sent Willow an apologetic look as she contemplated stopping Percy, but he was already on his way back inside, calling a "Sure" over his shoulder, this time not questioning her order. Having all of Buffy's friends out there by her side seemed more logical for him than asking the school librarian for help. Plus, he still believed Faith to be Xander's girlfriend, so the whole thing made even more sense.

"Uh, thank you," Giles called out to Percy, temporarily taken aback by Faith's words as well, well aware that neither girl had seen the remaining part of the Scoobie Gang since the revelation. But he recovered quickly, concentrating on the matter at, or in his hands. "So, uh, Faith, how did this happen?"

Faith, still upset about her faux-pas, showed some relief when Willow too finally knelt down and gave her an 'it's-okay'-look, which Giles noticed as well. "I... I don't know. We were in the cafeteria, and she had just told me that she could read thoughts and that...she knew," she stopped, looking at Giles and Willow, who just nodded for her to continue. "We were walking over to a table, and she suddenly dropped the tray she had our food on. And then it got weird. Maybe she heard someone thinking something bad or... I don't know. She started looking at people all panicked and then she looked at me... I think she wanted to tell me something. But then she grabbed her head in pain and blacked out."

"Hm," Giles murmured, chewing his glasses. What Faith had described fitted his idea of how things could have played out. The little detail about Buffy apparently freaking over something she had heard, troubled him, however. "And you didn't see or hear anything else that might have caused her...uh, panic?"

"No, I didn't," Faith negated, shaking her head. Though she had to admit that she hadn't paid that much attention to their surroundings. Her eyes had been mostly on Buffy, her thoughts mostly on Will.

"Do you think she's gonna be okay?" this one finally asked the watcher.

"I believe so," Giles replied getting up. "I have some smelling salts in my office, which should help in getting her to wake up. Maybe then she can tell us what has upset her," he added and headed for the library, leaving the two lovers alone - well, barring the unconscious Buffy, of course – for the first time since their outing.

_I know something that upset her..._ Faith pondered, her thoughts coming back to the fact that she and Willow had been kinda outed today. "You okay, honey?" she asked Willow softly, only now being able to take a closer look at her girlfriend and still noticing very faint tear stains on her cheeks. It almost tore her apart.

"I will be," Willow replied. We_ will be,_ she thought and gave her girlfriend a reassuring, if not all too big smile. It was a certainty she felt right now, thanks to Giles. She knew that as soon as the others arrived and Buffy woke up, some of it would be taken from her again, but she hoped that she and Faith could get through together.

Willow's reaction relieved Faith to some extent. She hated seeing Willow in pain and hoped the redhead proved right. Even more she hated herself today for not having been with her. "How did it happen?" she now put out the question that had been preying on her mind.

The redhead took a deep breath, rather not wanting to think about this very moment, but knowing that Faith deserved to know. "It happened in the library about maybe an hour ago. Buffy had called a meeting... to tell us about her new ability". The redhead signed, "We were all there. Giles, Wesley, Oz, Cordy, Xander..." She thought about the man who had started off this avalanche of revelations, still trying not to blame him. It wasn't his fault that she and Faith had waited too long, had made it harder to confess their love to their friends with every passing day. "I think I'm not the only one who was afraid of that power. Xander, he..." She moved an agitated hand through her hair, unsure how much Buffy had told her and fearing to shock Faith with what she would say next. She had made her peace with the knowledge about Faith and Xander's one-night-stand. But she knew that the brunette might not be too keen on the others learning about this as well.

Faith misread Willow's concern for her, thinking Will was upset about something her best friend had said. She didn't know how _close_ she was to the truth... only problem being that she viewed it from a different angle. But she wanted to help her in any way she could. And if necessary she'd deal with Xander later...

For now she contented herself with putting a supportive hand on her girlfriend's thigh, encouraging her to go on. Willow smiled at this gesture and gently covered the hand with hers, Faith's smile making her believe that maybe the slayer wouldn't take her next words so hard. "Xander... I don't know... I guess he panicked. H-He must have thought something about you and him... you know...," she 'explained' with an anxious look.

Faith gulped heavily, fearing that the 'you know' could only refer to her and Xander having had sex. In any normal situation she would smirk at her girlfriend's lasting inability to verbalize the 'act of intercourse' and would even tease her a little, but right now she didn't feel like it. So, that meant Buffy was aware of that little intermezzo as well... and now probably thought she was a sex monster devouring her friends.

Speaking of Buffy... "And Buffy just blurted out what she had heard him think. S-She asked 'You had sex with Faith?'" Willow went on and Faith couldn't suppress a wry 'There it is'-thought when the redhead actually used the three-letter-word, but rather concentrated on Willow's explanations again, "And then_ I _panicked... I hadn't realized that Buffy was talking to him, because I was trying so hard not to think anything about us...," she let out an incredulous laugh – now that they were out, all this effort of keeping their secret a secret seemed ridiculous, "... and so my mind had wondered how she could know, since I hadn't even thought about us. And Buffy _again_ blurted 'You had sex with Faith?' but so much shriller and louder this time. A-And Xander and Cordelia yelled 'What?' at me like that was the most shocking thing they've ever heard, whereas with you and Xander they had hardly even reacted," Willow noticed her voice beginning to crack and knew that she that she had to fight hard, if she wanted to keep any tears away. She gripped the hand on her thigh tighter, hoping it would help her. Because tears were the last thing she needed right now – especially since Xander and God-knows-who would be here soon. "Anyway... that's how," she concluded, hoping now had all the information she needed to imagine the whole event.

Faith had. _'That's how'... _she repeated silently, playing the not-so-funny babble over and over in her head and wanting nothing more than to turn back time, so that she could get up earlier today and keep Willow from having to face this terrible moment alone. But she didn't have that ability, so all she could do was being here for Willow now. "I'm so sorry, Willow," she confessed softly, looking at the pained face of her girlfriend, seeing the shimmer of tears that her redhead was trying to hold back. "I wish I had been here."

At that, Willow smiled a little again, "You are now," caressing Faith's hand with hers and finally coaxing this one into turning her palm up and fully clasping her own hand, strengthening the physical link between them.

"Yeah...," Faith nodded in relief. A relief that also arose from the fact that Will let her touch happen. When she had put her hand on Willow's thigh a minute ago, part of her had been afraid that the redhead might shy away from her touches, too troubled by having to go through the moment of their outing alone. It wouldn't have been a surprise. Even more she was pleased by the redhead even encouraging their touch.

Willow had been equally as afraid, for a while unsure if things between her and Faith would change now that their friends knew about them. But the larger part of doubted they would; they had faced too much together as a couple by now to just let a momentary confusion of their friends scare them apart.

And she was positive that their friends would recover eventually. Maybe not today or tomorrow or next week, but eventually they'd deal. Maybe Buffy would come around first, her guilt about blatting out Willow and Faith's... apparently very scandalous secret... propelling her into making her peace with this situation more quickly. She thought back to the blonde's reaction. "Buffy was sorry, I know," she confided in Faith, "I could see it in her eyes the moment the words were out. She hadn't meant to say it out loud".

"Yeah, I guess," Faith replied, certainly able to understand the gang's reaction to some extent. She imagined what she would have done, if someone close to her suddenly engaged in an unexpected relationship – same-sex or not.

In the first moment of learning about it, she would probably be too shocked as well to keep quiet. She looked down at the blonde and suddenly wondered, if the girl could hear them and their thoughts in her unconscious state. If so, maybe it would make accepting their relationship easier for the blonde, since she would know that what she and Willow had went way beyond sex and lust and hormones.

Another person who knew all this already was Giles, and Willow was still grateful for how calmly he had reacted to her relationship with a girl. Not every parental figure would react like him and, well, Joyce had done it. Certainly not her own... but that was a thought she didn't want to pursue right now. "Did you know that Giles knew about us already?" she asked Faith, partly to take her mind off her own parents.

Removing her eyes from Buffy again, the brunette's face showed some surprise, "What? How?" before a thought popped into her head, _Joyce_... "She... Did Joyce talk to him about it?"

"Oh! No, no, no, no," Willow was quick to negate Faith's assumption. "No... he, um... he...," she hesitated a little, "he saw us a couple of weeks ago... in the stacks," she explained, blushing faintly. In retrospect, there was an embarrassing element to Giles telling her about all this.

"'Saw' us, like, how...?" Faith gladly abandoned the absurd thought about Joyce having spilled their secret, only to panic over the things Giles might possibly have 'seen' them do. Will's slightly blushing face hadn't escaped her notice, of course – and it made her wonder, if G-Man had caught them doing something indecent. Her only, uh, 'time' alone with Will in the dark, secluded aisles of Giles' inner sanctum that she could think of had been pretty tame. Some mild cuddling and canoodling, in result of which Willow had been almost late for class. It had been the day she had asked for some money to buy Will a present and... _oh! _

Suddenly it all made sense. She had noticed that peculiar expression on the watcher's face when he had handed her the money shortly after the little intermezzo in the stacks, but hadn't thought about it any more. But now... "I could have known," she informed Willow with a small smile.

"You know which day?" the redhead asked, encouraged the her girlfriend's smile and also curious about what Faith's sentence should mean.

"Yeah," Faith confirmed. "I'd spent most of the week in the library with him that time... and there were signs. Not just the awkward stammering and stuff. Sometimes there were just looks. Just like the ones Joyce gave us after she found out." Almost too warm and gentle to handle, but still strangely relaxing.

"I know," Willow replied, remembering some of her own meetings with Giles after that day. For example the 'word' he wanted to have with her... which had ended up being a talk about the disks Finch had given them. But she had felt that there was something else on his mind as well.

"And he's okay with it?" the brunette asked now. There had been a smile on both Giles and Willow's faces, so she figured they had talked things out. Still she wanted to hear the affirmation from her girlfriend.

"I think so," the redhead smiled again. "he said he had needed some time, but now he's all supportive. And he also said that the others will be..."

_Here!... _Faith's thought drowned out Willow, as she saw Xander and Cordelia appearing at the wing door and Xander moving to push it open. On reflex, she disentangled her hand from Willow's...

…Immediately making the redhead panic in her turn. "W-What?" she turned her head to see what Faith had been seeing. Their friends. Their _knowing_ friends. When she faced Faith again, her face was visibly saddened. Not because their 'alone'-time was over or because she would be confronted with unforeseeable reactions soon, but because Faith had broken their physical contact. What did this mean? Was she... Did she not want want to be seen by their friends like that? Holding hands with her girlfriend? "Why did you...?" Willow slowly closed her hand and let it sink to the ground; hovering over her thigh all by itself, it certainly would have looked stupid – and lonely.

Faith had regretted her move immediately. It had been sheer panic that hadn't granted her mind the opportunity to think and leave that stupid hand where it belonged. In Willow's. To hell with what the others would think. "I'm sorry...," she whispered softly, making a half-hearted move to take Willow's hand back, but seeing her shy away confused. S_o much for being there for her, stupid_...

_to be continued... really! ;)_


End file.
